^  .v.; 


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BR  125  .696^ 
Chris_t  and  progress 


1844 


THE       WORKS       OF 
DAVID  JAMES  BURRELL 


Thk  WoiTDKBFin; 
Tbacheb  Axm  What 
Hb  Taxtoht 

12010,  doth,  net  ^1.20. 

The  purpose  of  this  book 
is  to  set  forth  the  teach* 
ingt  of  Jesut.  It  pic> 
turci  the  Wonderful 
Teacher  Himself;  and 
then  from  the  Problem  of 
the  Kingdom,  a:;  the  key 
note  of  His  teaching,  it 
topically  treats  His  funda> 
mental  doctrines,  practical 
ethics,  etc.,  applying  the 
principles  to  every  depart* 
ment  of  life.  The  book, 
is,  in  effect,  a  popular 
topical  discussion  of  what 
Jesus  says. 

Thb  Chuboh  nr 
Thb  Fobt 

izmo,  cloth,  net  ^l.zo. 

•'The  author's  reputation 
as     a     strong    Scriptural 


Preacher  of  the  Word  is  a 
guarantee  of  the  practical 
value  of  this  work.  He 
is  thoroughly  orthodox  la 
doctrine,  forceful  in  his 
style,  and  intensely  prac* 
tical  in  the  application  of 
the  truth  he  vigorously  pre> 
sents." — R*UgUu$      Ttlf 

Moft, 

Thk  XJ2rAccot7in:ABi.s 
Man  jjstd  otheb 
Sbbmons 

izmo,  cloth,  ^1.50. 
*'He  gives  men  something 
to  think  about  in  every 
sermon,  and  puts  it  In  a 
clear  way.  g  Good,  health* 
ful  reading. " — 7  h  0 
Efwtorth  Utrald. 

**He  has  a^  vigorous  and 
forceful  style,  a  thor* 
oughly  orthodox  appre* 
ciation  of  divine  truth, 
and  the  habit  of  speaking 
directly  '^to  the''point  and 
suitably  for  the  times."— 
Ntvj  York  Obitrver. 


Fleming    H.   REVELii    Company 

NKW  TOBK  CHICAGO  TOBOOTPO 


Christ  and  Pr 

A   Discussion  of 
Problems  of  Our  Time 


By 
David  James  Burrell,  D.D.,LL.D. 

Pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Church 
at  Fifth  Avenue  and  29th  Street 


New  York  Chicago 


Toronto 


Fleming  H.   Revell   Company 

London    and    Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1903,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

(Oc  toiler) 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  63  Washington  Street 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street,  W 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    30  St.   Mary   Street 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

I.   The  King  is  Dead  .  ,  .        ii 

THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  FATHERS 

II.    A  Mummy  on  its  Travels  .  .  21 

III.  Throwing  Things  Overboard  .  .  31 

IV.  Cutting  Down  Fruit  Trees  .  .  43 

THE  UNCHANGEABLE  CHRIST 

V.   At  the  Wellside      .  .  .  .57 

VS.   Still  Working  Wonders  .  .  .67 

TWO  UNCHANGEABLE  BOOKS 

VII.   The  Bible  Disposed  of,  What  Then?        81 
VIII.    Is  the  Bible  Disposed  of  ?      .  .        95 

THE  UNCHANGEABLE  PLAN  OF  SALVATION 

IX.   The  Atonement  in  Modern   Thought      1 1 1 
X.   Justification  by  Faith       .  ,  .125 

TWO  EDDIES  OF  ERROR 

XI.    Baalism,  the  Denial  of  the  Father    .      139 

XII.   Antichrist,  the  Denial  of  the  Son      .      151 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

THE  ENEMY 

PAGE 

XIII.   The  Trojan  Horse  .  .  .163 

•    XIV.   Attacking  the  Citadel     .  .  .      I7S 

THE  CHRISTIAN 

XV.   The  Christian  in  Philistia  .  .189 

XVI.   The  Christian  on  His  Knees    .  .201 

THE  CHURCH 

XVII.    Is  Protestantism  a  Failure  ?      .  .  215 

XVIII.    Are  Revivals  out  of  Date  ?       .  .  229 

XIX.    Is  the  Church  Losing  Ground?  .  243 

CONCLUSION 

XX.   A  Forecast  of  the  Golden  Age  .      257 


INTRODUCTION 


Every  day  brings  a  ship, 
Every   ship   brings   a   word; 
Well  for  those  who  have  no  fear, 
Looking  seaward! 

Emerson 


THE  KING  IS  DEAD 

AS  I  sat  thinking,  on  New  Year's  Eve,  the  years 
seemed  to  go  marching  by  with  a  regal 
air.  The  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings 
of  Israel  lay  open  before  me  and  I  read,  So  David  slept 
with  his  fathers  and  Solomon  reigned  in  his  stead — 
And  Elah  slept  with  his  fathers  and  Zimri  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead — And  Ahab  slept  with  his  fathers 
and  Hezekiah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. — "  Reigned  " 
and  *'  slept," — ''  reigned  "  and  "  slept."  O,  weary  itera- 
tion !  I  saw  a  darkened  room  in  the  palace ;  men  and 
women  in  courtly  apparel  watching  at  a  death-bed; 
tears  and  whispers ;  then  daybreak  and  the  blast  of 
silver  trumpets :  "  The  king  is  dead ;  long  live  the 
king!" 

So  the  years  in  royal  state  went  by;  some  crowned 
with  shining  gold ;  others  with  garlands  of  laurel  that 
drooped  and  faded  ere  they  passed  from  view ;  still 
others  with  the  cypress  of  memorable  griefs.  And, 
watching  this  imposing  cortege  I  quite  forgot  the  near 
approach  of  Death,  until  the  clock  began  the  measured 
stroke  of  twelve.     Farewell,  Old  Year ! 

Alack,  our  friend  has  gone; 
Close  up   his   eyes,  tie  up   his  chin, 
Step  from  the  corpse  and  let  him  in 
That  standeth  there   alone! 
II 


12  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Then  into  the  silence  of  the  night  came  the  far-off 
chime  of  bells,  followed  by  the  blowing  of  horns  and 
shrieking  of  whistles;  it  was  as  if  already  the  long- 
roll  were  sounding  and  the  Royal  Guard  mustering  to 
bear  the  Mighty  to  his  grave.  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi. 
The  king  is  dead ;   long  live  the  king ! 

And  then  I  heard  Prospero  commenting  on  the  fanci- 
ful ceremonies  of  the  Masque : 

Our  revels  now  are  ended.     These  our  actors, 
As  I  foretold  you,  were  all  spirits,  and 
Are  melted  into  air,  into  thin  air: 
And,  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision, 
The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces. 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself. 
Yea,  all   which   it   inherit,   shall   dissolve. 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded, 
,  Leave  not  a  rack  behind.     We  are  such  stuff 

As  dreams  are  made  of,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep. 

It  is  visions  like  this  that  breed  a  hopeless  melan- 
choly, unless  they  are  relieved  by  the  thought  of  God 
over  all. 

He  is  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible.  The 
breath  of  other  kings  is  in  their  nostrils ;  "  each  goeth 
to  his  narrow  house ; "  but  this  King  "  sits  on  no  pre- 
carious throne  nor  borrows  leave  to  be."  Time  is  His 
handmaid.  The  march  of  the  years  is  under  His 
command. 

Two  centuries  ago  the  dignitaries  of  France  were 
assembled  in  Notre  Dame  to  celebrate  the  obsequies 
of  Louis  XIV.  The  Cathedral  was  draped  in  black; 
the  light  of  candles  gleaming  in  the  chapels  was 
eclipsed  by  the  lurid  glare  of  uplifted  torches;    on 


THE    KING    IS   DEAD  13 

every  side  was  the  pageantry  of  woe.  The  dead  king 
lay  in  a  splendid  catafalque,  under  a  canopied  pall, 
before  the  high  altar,  with  the  insignia  of  royalty  about 
him.  He  had  reigned  seventy  years ;  a  period  of  mag- 
nificent state,  of  magnificent  tyranny,  of  magnificent 
vice.  Louis  le  Grand,  they  called  him.  Louis  le  Mag- 
nifique!  The  Court  Chaplain,  Massillon,  at  whose 
reproofs  this  king  had  oftentimes  trembled  like  David 
before  Nathan,  rose  to  deliver  his  eulogium.  For  a 
time  emotion  overcame  him ;  then  slowly  his  eyes  were 
lifted  from  the  cofiin,  higher  and  higher,  until  the 
silence  was  broken  by  the  words :  *'  Only  God  is 
great ! " 

It  was  like  an  echo  of  the  words  of  Moses,  when, 
climbing  the  lonely  slopes  of  Nebo,  he  turned  to  view 
the  shining  tents  of  Israel  in  the  valley  below : 

Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place 

In  all  generations. 

Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth, 

Or  ever  Thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world, 

Even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  Thou  art  God! 

But  whither  go  the  years,  thus  divinely  captained? 
They  march  to  conquest. 

Not  so  was  it  with  the  kings  of  Israel ;  on  they  went 
from  bad  to  worse ;  from  reckless  Jeroboam  "  the  son 
of  Nebat  who  made  Israel  to  sin,"  to  impotent  Zede- 
kiah  who,  with  eyes  plucked  out  and  hands  in  man- 
acles, was  led  away  to  hopeless  bondage  in  Babylon. 
But  the  years  ride  in  chariots  and  move  onward,  with 
strange  recessions  like  the  flowing  tides  (whereat  short- 
sighted men  take  fright,  crying  "All's  lost!"),  from 
better  to  better,  to  the  Golden  Age. 


14  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

There  is  no  gospel  in  pessimism,  and  there  is  no  pes- 
simism in  the  Gospel.  God  reigns  and  Faith  walks 
hand  in  hand  with  Hope.  The  Pessimist  builds  his 
house  on  The  Flats,  and  when  a  freshet  comes  and 
sweeps  it  away,  he  thinks  there  is  another  Deluge; 
but  the  world  moves  on. 

God  launched  a  mighty  enterprise  when  He  made 
this  world  and  peopled  it.  He  meant  that  there  should 
be  kings  and  potentates,  but  that  He  Himself  would  be 
King  over  all,  forever  and  ever.  All  the  events  of  his- 
tory were,  from  the  beginning,  included  in  His  compre- 
hensive plan;  the  Fall,  the  Flood,  The  Confusion  of 
Tongues,  the  Conquest  of  Palestine,  the  Captivity,  the 
long  Egyptian  night,  the  Advent,  the  Tragedy  on  Gol- 
gotha, the  Pentecostal  Effusion,  the  Marching  Forth 
of  the  Eleven  to  Conquest,  Persecution  on  Perse- 
cution, the  Dark  Ages,  the  Reformation,  Revivals, 
Declensions,  Missionary  Conquests;  He  foresaw  them 
all. 

And  He  foresaw  the  coming  of  men  to  meet  events. 
He  called  Abraham  from  the  foundation  of  the  world ; 
and,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
came  the  answer,  "  Here  am  I."  He  called  Moses  who 
answered  from  the  desert  of  Midian,  ''  Here  am  I." 
Paul ;  and  from  the  Damascus  highway  he  answered, 
''  What  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  Peter  the  Hermit, 
Wycklif  with  his  open  Bible,  Luther,  Wesley,  White- 
field,  Moody :  and  these  kings  of  progress,  greater 
than  Pharaohs  and  Caesars,  Plantagenets  and  Tudors, 
answered  to  their  names,  met  their  destiny  and  moved 
on.  The  minstrels,  lifting  the  birth-song,  have  ever 
overtaken  the  mourners  on  their  way  to  God's  Acre. 
Is  the  king  dead  ?     Then,  long  live  the  king !    And  He 


THEKINGISDEAD  15 

that  sits  in  heaven  looks  cahnly  on  awaiting  the  restitu- 
tion of  all  things. 

He  foresaw  the  end  from  the  beginning.  He  calmly 
viewed,  from  the  remote  ages  of  eternity  the  consum- 
mation, the  portent  which  blanched  the  face  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. Call  in  the  prophet  and  let  him  interpret 
the  Great  Image ;  head  of  gold,  breast  of  silver,  loins 
of  brass,  legs  of  iron,  feet  of  clay.  See  the  Stone,  cut 
out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  smiting  it;  and 
behold  how  the  winds  of  heaven  are  scattering  its  dust 
as  chaff  from  the  threshing-floor.  So  "  the  giant  forms 
of  empire  on  their  way  to  ruin,  one  by  one,  they  tower 
and  are  gone."  But  the  last  kingdom  shall  be  an 
everlasting  kingdom ;  and  the  dominion  of  the  Last 
King  shall  be  forever  and  ever :  as  it  is  written,  "  The 
tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  among  men,  and  He  shall 
dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God 
Himself  shall  be  their  God." 

What  then? 

It  behooves  us  to  keep  step  with  progress. 

Let  us  march  with  the  procession  of  the  years.  This 
means  to  follow  Christ.  No  man  is  a  progressive 
thinker  who  thinks  at  odds  with  Christ.  No  man  is 
abreast  of  the  logic  of  events  who  does  not  lend  him- 
self to  the  great  purposes  of  Christ,  the  Christ  who 
leads  the  van. 

A  Httle  company  of  prisoners  was  brought  forth  one 
night  in  the  year  64  from  the  dungeons  of  Rome  to 
grace  the  Saturnalia.  They  were  a  laughing  stock  to 
the  populace ;  rabbis  thrust  out  their  lips  at  them ; 
Seneca,  the  philosopher,  looked  on  them  as  ignorant 
victims  of  a  strange  delusion ;  it  was  enough  that  they 
believed  in  a  divine  Book  and  worshiped  a  crucified 


16  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

God.  Yet  these  were  the  only  men  in  Rome  who  were 
really  ahead  of  their  time.  On  that  memorable  night, 
smeared  with  pitch  and  encased  in  iron  baskets,  they 
lighted  the  revels  in  the  gardens  of  Nero's  Golden 
House.  Nero  went  the  way  of  all  flesh,  the  rabbis 
were  forgotten,  Seneca  was  resolved  into  a  name;  but 
the  light  of  those  living  torches  has  been  thrown  along 
the  pathway  of  the  centuries  until  this  day. 

The  way  of  progress  is  the  royal  way  of  the  cross. 
All  other  progress  is  false  and  illusory. 

We  are  bound  to  be  abreast  of  our  time ;  but,  how  ? 

On  the  one  hand  we  must  bury  our  dead  as  we  pass 
on.  Must,  I  say;  yet  this  is  the  most  difficult  thing 
in  the  world  to  do.  The  darkest  hour  in  the  life  of 
Abraham  was  when  he  came  to  Kirjath-Arba  "  mourn- 
ing for  Sarah  and  weeping  for  her."  And  he  spake 
unto  the  sons  of  Heth  saying,  "  I  am  a  stranger  and 
sojourner  with  you;  sell  me  a  possession  that  I  may 
bury  my  dead  Sarai,  my  princess,  out  of  my  sight." 
And  there  in  the  cave  Machpelah  he  buried  his  dead ; 
and  having  rolled  a  stone  before  the  sepulchre  he 
passed  on.  So  must  every  man.  Old  joys,  sorrows, 
long-cherished  sins,  dreams  that  never  came  true  nor 
could  come  true,  thwarted  ambitions,  grudges  and  en- 
mities, customs  that  were  better  in  the  breach  than  in 
the  observance,  false  dogmas,  prejudices,  all  things 
superannuated,  all  things  disproved  by  experience; 
bury  them !  Bury  them  all !  Life  at  its  best  is  a 
forced  march,  in  which  the  impedimenta  must  be  left 
behind.  The  progressive  man  goes  unencumbered 
along  with  the  procession  of  the  years. 

But  while  we  are  burying  the  dead  let  us  take  heed 
that  we  bury  none  of  the  living  with  them. 


THE   KING    IS  DEAD  17 

The  things  that  survive  have  right  to  double  life. 
Cherish  the  hopes  that  would  not  down ;  persist  in 
the  prayers  that,  unanswered  as  yet,  are  buttressed  by 
great  promises;  cling  to  the  truths  that,  however  de- 
rided, are  fixed  in  heart  and  conscience  and  in  the 
oracles  of  God ;  maintain  the  habit  of  monotonous  but 
vital  duty ;  give  up  no  right  purpose,  no  holy  aspiration, 
no  heavenly  ambition. 

Aye,  bury  your  dead ;  but  let  no  man  bury  your  living ! 
Lay  deeper  emphasis  on  the  truths  that  have  passed 
through  furnace-fires  without  the  smell  of  smoke  upon 
them,  and  the  moral  precepts  that  have  been  tested  in 
the  experience  of  nations  and  men :  and  formulate 
them  into  life  and  character  as  you  pass  on.  This  is 
the  martial  music  to  which  the  years  advance  toward 
the  Golden  Age : 

Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new; 
Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  truel 

Ring   out   a   slowly   dying   cause, 
And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife; 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life. 

With    sweeter   manners,    purer    laws. 

Ring  out  false  pride  in  place  and  blood. 

The  civic  slander  and  the  spite; 

Ring  in  the  love  of  truth  and  right, 
Ring  in  the  common  love  of  good. 

Ring  out   old   shapes   of  foul   disease, 
Ring  out  the  narrowing  lust  of  gold; 
Ring  out  the  thousand  wars  of  old. 

Ring  in  the  thousand  years  of  peace. 

Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 
The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 

Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be! 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  FATHERS 


I  met  a  traveller  from  an  antique  land 

Who  said,  "Two  vast  and  trunkless  legs  of  stone 
Stand  in  the  desert.     Near  them  on  the  sand, 

Half  sunk,  a  shattered  visage  lies,  whose  frown 
And  wrinkled  lip   and   sneer   of  cold   command 

Tell  that  its  sculptor  well  those  passions  read 
Which  yet  survive,  stamped  on  these  lifeless  things, 

The  hand  that  mocked  them  and  the  heart  that  fed; 
And  on  the  pedestal  these  words  appear, 

*  My  name  is  Ozymandias,  King  of  Kings; 
Look  on  my  works,  ye  mighty,  and  despair ! ' 

Nothing  beside  remains.     Round  the  decay 
Of  that  colossal  wreck,  boundless  and  bare, 

The  lone  and  level  sands  stretch  far  away." 

Shellby 


II 

A  MUMMY  ON  ITS  TRAVELS 

IT  is  little  wonder  that  children  love  to  hear  the  story 
of  Joseph;  it  reads  so  like  a  fairy  tale.  How 
bravely  he  put  his  foot  upon  the  lowest  round  of 
difficulty  and  climbed,  step  by  step,  to  power !  "  It  is 
curious  to  see,"  says  John  Foster,  "  how  the  space  clears 
around  a  man  of  decisive  spirit  and  leaves  him  room 
and  freedom."  A  shepherd  boy,  a  captive,  overseer  in 
Potiphar's  house,  a  prisoner,  keeper  of  the  prison,  in- 
terpreter of  dreams,  king's  counselor,  chamberlain  in 
the  palace,  commissary  of  the  empire,  Zaphnath- 
paaneah,  son-in-law  of  the  royal  chaplain,  vice-regent ; 
bow  the  knee  before  him ! 

And  every  step  was  promotion  for  merit.  His 
career  is  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  homely  proverb, 
"  Be  a  friend  to  yersel'  an'  ithers  will." 

His  true  greatness,  however,  was  not  due  to  his 
official  position  in  Egypt  but  to  his  relations  with 
Israel  and  Israel's  God.  He  was  never  an  Egyptian. 
Though  prime-minister  for  a  period  of  eighty  years,  he 
was  never  for  a  moment  weaned  from  the  faith  of  his 
fathers  or  naturalized  in  the  alien  land.  He  was  in 
Egypt  but  not  of  it.  Amid  the  splendours  of  Pharaoh's 
palace  his  memory  dwelt  with  the  old  scenes  of  She- 
chem.  The  coat  of  many  colours  which  he  wore  in  his 
boyhood  was  more  precious  than  his  official  robe. 
Though  wedded  to  Asenath.  daughter  of  the  Priest  of 

21 


22         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

On,  his  sons  were  nurtured  in  the  ancestral  faith.  And 
when  at  length,  by  a  combination  of  strange  provi- 
dences, his  father  and  brethren  settled  in  Egypt,  his 
lot  was  cast  among  them.  Thither  he  betook  himself 
for  relaxation  from  the  cares  of  state.  He  bowed  at 
their  altars ;  he  was  true  to  their  God. 

The  record  of  his  death  is  a  tribute  to  his  devotion : 
**  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  I  die :  and  God 
will  surely  visit  you  and  bring  you  out  of  this  land 
unto  the  land  which  He  swore  unto  our  fathers.  And 
he  took  an  oath  of  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  God 
will  surely  visit  you,  and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones 
from  hence.  So  he  died,  being  an  hundred  and  ten 
years  old;  and  they  embalmed  him  and  he  was  put  in 
a  coffin  in  Egypt." 

His  last  injunction  gave  evidence  of  a  mighty  faith, 
a  faith  that  entitled  him  to  a  place  in  the  roll-call  of 
heroes  in  the  eleventh  of  Hebrews.  For  nothing 
seemed  less  probable  than  that  the  children  of  Israel 
would  ever  depart  from  Egypt.  But  his  prophetic  eye 
saw  the  remote  fulfillment  of  the  divine  promise.  He 
was  so  far  from  being  an  Egyptian  that  he  would  not 
even  have  his  body  rest  in  that  alien  soil.  The  boy- 
dreamer  was  a  dreamer  still :  "  God  shall  surely  visit 
you !  " 

Years  passed.  Two  centuries  dragged  their  slow 
length  along.  They  were  centuries  crowded  with 
events ;  the  reigns  of  Pharaohs  that  knew  not  Joseph, 
the  gradual  lapsing  of  the  Israelites  into  slavery,  the 
hopeless  cry  of  the  brickmakers  under  the  taskmas- 
ters' whip  of  scorpions.  Meanwhile  a  pathetic  interest 
attached  to  the  memory  of  Joseph.  No  doubt  the 
mummy-crypt  where  he  lay  was  often  visited  by  bond- 


A   MUMMY   ON   ITS   TRAVELS      23 

men,  saying,  "  Were  he  here,  he  would  vindicate  our 
rights !  "  Mothers  told  his  story  to  their  children,  as 
they  are  telling  it  yet.  But  would  his  words  prove 
true  ?  Would  God  "  visit  His  people  ?  "  How  long, 
O  Lord,  how  long? 

Then  from  the  desert  of  Midian  came  Moses  the 
deliverer,  saying,  "  Let  my  people  go !  "  The  plagues, 
murrain  and  pestilence,  the  death  of  the  firstborn ;  the 
captives  waiting,  sandalled  and  staff  in  hand ;  the  mid- 
night cry,  the  exodus.  Out  into  the  wilderness  they 
went ;  a  million  fugitive  slaves,  with  the  pillar  of  cloud 
leading  the  way. 

And  they  did  not  forget  their  solemn  oath  to  Joseph. 
Though  they  fled  by  night  in  haste,  they  carried  with 
them  the  sacred  reliquary  in  which  reposed  his  sleep- 
ing dust.  It  accompanied  them  through  the  forty 
years  of  their  wandering,  a  constant  reminder  of  God's 
truth.  It  was  with  them  at  Sinai,  at  Meribah,  at  Elim 
where  they  rested  under  the  palm  trees ;  it  rebuked  them 
when  they  murmured  for  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt,  it 
silently  chided  them  when  they  bowed  before  the  golden 
calf;  it  stimulated  their  courage  when  they  went  into 
battle,  a  voice  from  within  calling,  "  Quit  you  like 
men ! "  it  was  borne  before  them  when  they  passed 
dry-shod  through  Jordan  into  the  Promised  Land. 

And  when  at  length  the  land  was  subjugated  and 
its  broad  acres  distributed  among  the  tribes,  they  met 
in  solemn  assemblage  at  Shechem  for  Joseph's  sepul- 
ture. In  a  tomb,  bought  three  centuries  before  by  his 
father,  then  a  sojourner  in  the  land,  he  was  laid  to  rest 
with  solemn  rites.  By  the  ruins  of  the  old  altar  called 
El-Elofie-Israel,  the  funeral  address  was  delivered  by 
Joshua,  who  called  upon  the  people  to  renew  their 


24  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

covenant  with  God.  And  there  through  the  interven- 
ing centuries  the  bones  of  Joseph  have  lain  in  waiting 
for  the  trumpet  of  the  Great  Day. 

To  my  mind  there  is  something  profoundly  impres- 
sive in  the  thought  of  that  mummy-chest,  carried  about 
by  the  people  through  the  centuries,  and  influencing 
immeasurably  their  lives  and  history.  It  suggests  the 
mighty  influence  of  the  past  and  of  the  heroic  dead 
upon  the  passing  events  of  our  time. 

We  are  fond  of  thinking  that  we  live  in  an  age  of 
progress.  ''  Ring  out  the  old ;  ring  in  the  new  !  "  We 
are  exhorted  on  every  hand  to  keep  abreast  of  the 
age.  There  is  a  frenzied  protest  against  the  creeds 
and  symbols  of  antiquity.  The  children  are  risen  up 
against  the  fathers  as  belonging  to  an  effete  age.  We 
hasten  to  the  market-place,  like  the  Athenians,  to  hear 
or  tell  a  new  thing.  We  follow  the  neologists  as  boys 
follow  the  engine  to  a  fire,  or  if  too  busy  to  follow  we 
stand  gaping  after  it.  We  run  with  the  Higher  Critics, 
the  Ethical  Culturists,  the  Theosophists,  the  Evolu- 
tionists, the  Christian  Scientists,  anybody,  anywhere. 
The  ignis  fatuus  is  our  pillar  of  cloud.  Zeit-geist 
rather  than  HciUgcr  Geist  is  "  the  spirit  of  the  age." 

By  all  means  let  us  move  on ;  but  there  is  a  "  pace 
that  kills."  The  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift.  It  is 
a  foolish  army  that  throws  away  its  provisions  with 
its  impedimenta  in  the  interest  of  progress.  Let  us 
pause  a  while  to  ponder  on  the  religion  of  the  past. 
There  are  certain  considerations  that  press  upon  us : 

First :   There  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  fathers. 

They  are  not  dead.  The  dead  are  the  living  and  we 
who  think  ourselves  to  be  living  are  only  preparing  to 
live.    The  men  who  are  marking  out  the  policies  and 


A   MUMMY   ON  ITS   TRAVELS      25 

controlling  the  destinies  of  our  own  nation  are  such  as 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  and  Monroe  whose 
"  doctrine  "  is  the  keystone  of  our  territorial  greatness. 
These  went  over  to  the  majority  long  ago.  They  are 
"  the  choir  invisible,"  who  live  again 

In  deeds  of  daring  rectitude,  in  scorn 

For  miserable  aims  that  end  with  self, 

In  thoughts  sublime  that  pierce  the  night  with  stars. 

The  world  may  forget  the  names  of  its  past  wor- 
thies, and  neglect  the  graves  wherein  they  lie ;  but  their 
influence  is  "  proof  against  the  tooth  of  time  and  raz- 
ure  of  oblivion." 

Second :  It  does  not  follow  that  because  a  thing  is 
old  it  is  necessarily  false. 

There  are  some  things  which  are  never  superannu- 
ated. Air,  sunlight  and  spring  water  are  as  old  as 
creation  and  yet  quite  worthy  of  this  age.  You  will 
search  the  Patent  Office  in  vain  for  any  improvement 
upon  them.  May  it  not  be  barely  possible  that  in  the 
infinite  province  of  truth  there  are  some  postulates  and 
factors  as  unchangeable  as  these?  For  example,  such 
facts  as  God  Himself,  His  oracles,  His  pardoning  grace, 
life  and  immortality,  faith  and  righteousness,  love  and 
justice,  the  precepts  of  the  Decalogue  and  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount. 

Third :   Some  things  improve  with  age. 

There  is  a  familiar  proverb :  "  Old  wood  to  bum, 
old  books  to  read,  old  friends  to  love ; "  to  which 
Charles  the  First  added,  "  If  you  care  for  comfort,  old 
shoes  to  wear."  So  the  influence  of  the  fathers  in- 
creases with  the  passing  years.  The  names  of  Calvin 
and  Wesley  are  more  potent  than  ever.     The  prowess 


26  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  Robert  Bruce  at  Sterling  and  Bannockburn  is  writ- 
ten in  song  and  chronicle ;  but  long  after  his  body  had 
returned  to  dust,  the  Scottish  army  bore  his  reliquary 
aloft  in  battle  with  the  cry,  ''  The  Heart  of  Bruce ! " 
and  by  the  magic  of  his  name  redeemed  the  day. 

The  saying,  '*  Influence  never  dies,"  tells  but  half  the 
truth.  The  influence  of  a  noble  life  is  a  perpetually 
waxing  factor  in  human  history.  It  brightens  in  the 
glamour  of  past  association.  Who  does  not  know  the 
spell  of  memory?  the  old  home?  a  mother's  face?  the 
songs  of  long  ago  ? 

You  sit  with  a  bundle  of  brown  letters  before  you; 
their  message  swims  before  your  eyes;  the  past  takes 
hold  upon  you.  The  postman  rings ;  what  matters  it  ? 
He  can  bring  you  no  letters  like  these. 

Not  long  ago  I  found  between  the  leaves  of  a  Bible 
a  flower  plucked  from  a  child's  grave.  The  fields  were 
full  of  flowers,  but  none  like  this ; 

Withered,  faded,  pressed  between  these  pages, 
Crumpled  fold  on  fold; 
Once  it  lay  upon  her  breast;  and  ages 
Cannot  make  it  old. 

Fourth:  It  must  not  be  assumed  that  because  c 
thing  is  new  it  is  therefore  true  or  supremely  impor- 
tant. 

Let  us  keep  on  singing,  "  Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in 
the  new ; "  but  make  sure  that  in  so  doing  we  "  ring 
out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true."  Let  Israel  keep  jeal- 
ous guard  over  her  reliquary  until  Shechem  is  reached. 

We  speak  of  "  new  forces "  but  there  are  none. 
Steam  was  steam  before  Watt  utilized  it.  Lightning 
was  lightning  before  Franklin  harnessed  it  to  com- 


A   MUMMY    ON   ITS   TRAVELS     27 

mon  toil.  The  best  that  we  can  do  is  to  make  new  ad- 
justments and  applications  of  old  forces,  nor  are  the 
new  adjustments  always  permanent:  the  inventor  is 
under  the  necessity  of  making  constant  ''  improve- 
ments," that  he  may  renew  his  patent  from  time  to 
time. 

The  same  fact  is  observed  in  the  province  of  moral 
and  spiritual  things.  The  Bible  is  as  true  as  ever, 
though,  as  John  Robinson  said,  ''  There  be  ever  new 
lights  breaking  from  it."  The  man  with  a  spade  digs 
up  a  slab  or  cylinder  from  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  ;  where- 
upon the  historicity  of  Scripture  is  confirmed,  but  the 
''  new  lights  "  give  way  to  other  lights.  And  "  what- 
ever may  be  the  surprises  of  the  future,"  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  forever :  His  influence 
in  human  affairs  is  more  potent  and  manifest  with 
every  passing  day. 

Fifth :  The  secret  of  true  progress  is  to  keep  abreast 
of  events  while  christening  all  that  was  valuable  in  the 
past. 

Wherefore,  as  Pope  said, 

Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  is  tried; 
Be  not  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside. 

There  can  be  no  true  spirit  of  enterprise  without 
conservatism.  The  student  in  geometry  who  refuses 
to  heed  the  axioms  and  postulates  will  never  cross  the 
pons  asinorum.  The  man  who  will  not  observe  the 
old  landmarks  can  never  hold  an  estate  in  fee  simple. 
The  chauffeur  who  speeds  his  automobile  at  an  un- 
warrantable rate  is  arrested  by  a  homely  moving-van 
placed  crosswise  in  the  highway  by  officers  of  the  law. 
Wherefore,  do  deference  to  the  beacons  and  barriers 


28  CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

of  the  past.  Take  heed  how,  in  your  haste  to  reach 
the  Canaan  of  truth,  you  drop  the  reHquary  of  Joseph 
by  the  way.  A  dwarf  on  the  shoulders  of  the  giant 
Past  can  see  further  than  the  tallest  of  the  Anakim. 
Honour  the  fathers  then,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in 
the  Land  of  Truth  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

Sixth :  Inasmuch  as  a  man's  life  is  not  limited  by  his 
immediate  vicinage  or  bounded  by  threescore  years  and 
ten,  it  behooves  us  to  live  so  that  our  influence  may  be 
helpful  to  those  who  come  after  us.  In  a  little  while 
we  shall  be  "  the  fathers ;  "  will  coming  generations 
honour  us? 

I  can  remember  when  the  Dakotas  were  an  unbroken 
stretch  of  prairies ;  far  as  the  eyes  could  reach  was 
neither  shrub  nor  tree.  Forty  years  ago  a  silent,  soli- 
tary man  took  up  a  claim,  and  made  it  his  business  to 
journey  far  and  wide,  planting  acorns  and  winged  seeds 
of  the  soft  maple ;  and  to-day  you  may  see  the  fruit  of 
his  labours  in  oak-openings  and  long  lines  of  maples 
along  the  highways.  He  did  not  live  to  rest  in  their 
shadow ;  but  his  works  do  follow  him.  We  owe  some- 
thing, likewise,  to  posterity. 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime; 

And  departing  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. 

It  is  well  to  live  for  to-day,  but  he  who  lives  best  for 
to-day  lives  also  for  eternity.  Heredity  is  a  fact  that 
reaches  further  than  we  think.  No  man  liveth  unto 
himself.  A  Christian  father  sends  his  religion  down 
through  the  veins  of  remote  generations ;  while  one  who 
denies  God  and  the  Bible,  Christ  and  the  value  of  His 


AMUMMY    ON    ITS    TRAVELS     29 

Gospel,  denies  them  not  for  himself  alone  but  for 
those  who  come  after  him. 

Seventh :  Whatever  we  may  do  and  whatever  may 
become  of  us,  God  abideth  faithful. 

And  whether  we  believe  His  word  or  not,  it  is  estab- 
lished forever. 

Our  acceptance  or  rejection  of  Christ  cannot  affect 
the  final  result :  the  time  certainly  approaches  when 
every  knee  on  earth  shall  bow  before  Him.  ''  Come, 
Philip,"  said  Luther,  in  the  dark  days  of  the  Refor- 
mation, "  Let  us  sing  the  Forty-sixth  Psalm  :  Ein  feste 
burg  ist  unser  Gott!"  The  old  landmarks  may  seem 
to  disappear,  but  the  earth  is  permanently  marked  out 
in  Domesday  book.  Pharaohs  may  arise  who  know 
not  Joseph,  but  God  remembers  His  Church  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

And  finally :    The  Covenant  standeth  sure. 

If  the  dying  words  of  Joseph :  "  He  will  surely  visit 
you,  and  bring  you  out  of  bondage  into  the  land  of 
promise  "  be  rendered  into  the  terminology  of  the  Gos- 
pel it  will  read,  "  He  that  believeth  in  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life."  This  is  the  covenant  of  grace;  and 
this  is  "  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints." 
It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  cherish  that  faith  until  we 
are  quite  certain  that  something  better  and  more  trust- 
worthy has  fallen  to  our  lot.  No  if  or  perhaps,  no 
guess  or  hypothesis  is  worthy  to  supersede  a  hope 
which  is  founded  on  God's  Yea  and  Amen. 

In  one  of  his  sermons  Dr.  Guthrie  tells  of  a  bold 
adventurer  who  clambered  down  an  ocean  cliff  in  search 
of  the  sea-fowl's  eggs.  The  ledge  on  which  he  stood 
suddenly  gave  way  and  plunged  into  the  surge  beneath. 
,By  a  desperate  leap,  he  grasped  a  twig  of  ivy  that 


30         CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

issued  from  a  crevice  in  the  rock.  Will  you  cry  to 
him  "  Let  go  !  "  Nay,  let  him  hold  fast  until  some 
better  hope  of  life  is  given  him.  The  Religion  of  our 
Fathers  has  lost  none  of  its  saving  power.  It  holds. 
It  has  saved  a  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  num- 
ber; it  can  save  us. 


Ill 

THROWING   THINGS    OVERBOARD 

IF  the  log  of  the  skipper  of  the  Alexandrian  corn- 
ship,  on  which  Paul  was  taken  to  Rome,  had  been 
preserved,  it  would  make  interesting  reading.     It 
would  run  somewhat  on  this  wise : 

''  First  day.  Sailed  from  Fair  Havens  in  Crete, 
where  we  had  long  been  weather-bound,  under  a  fair 
southerly  wind.  Two  hundred  and  seventy-six  souls 
aboard,  besides  a  cargo  of  wheat.  Scarcely  out  on  the 
open  sea  when  Euraquilo,  the  Levanter,  struck  us. 

''  Second  day.  Storm  still  raging.  Lightened  the 
ship  by  throwing  out  freight  carried  on  the  upper  deck. 

''  Third  day.  Still  labouring  under  stress  of  the  tem- 
pest. Further  lightened  the  ship  by  throwing  over  all 
spare  tackling  and  movables. 

"  Fourth  day.  Seams  parted ;  obliged  to  undergird 
and  strike  sail. 

"  Fifth  to  thirteenth.  Driven  to  and  fro  in  the  Adri- 
atic. No  sun  nor  stars.  Dead  reckoning.  Crew  and 
passengers  in  despair.  A  prisoner  named  Paul  has 
been  of  great  service  in  giving  good  cheer :  professes 
to  have  seen  a  vision  from  God. 

*'  Fourteenth  day.  Levanter  still  raging.  Took 
soundings  at  midnight  and  found  twenty  fathoms ; 
again,  found  fifteen.  Mutinous  attempt  of  crew  to 
escape  in  small  boat.  Cast  out  four  anchors,  and  spent 
remainder  of  night  in  throwing  over  cargo  of  wheat, 
in  hope  of  running  the  vessel  on  the  beach. 

31 


32  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

^'Fifteenth  day.  Land  in  sight :  we  are  close  under 
the  lee  shore.  Panic  prevented  by  cheerful  counsel  of 
Paul.  Loosed  the  rudder  bands  and  made  sail  before 
the  wind.  Ship  grounded  and  broken  asunder  by  the 
waves.  Crew  and  passengers  all  saved.  Land  proves 
to  be  the  Island  of  Malta.  We  are  drenched  and  shiv- 
ering on  the  shore." 

The  name  of  this  vessel  is  unknown  to  us :  but  her 
eventful  voyage  was  an  epitome  of  that  which  the  good 
ship  Progress  has  been  making  through  the  ages,  bear- 
ing up  under  the  stress  of  adverse  winds,  and  often 
unloading  in  the  hope  of  making  her  desired  haven. 
On  the  whole,  the  world  is  vastly  better  off  for  this 
lightening  of  the  ship.  It  has  meant  the  sacrifice  of 
old  legends  and  superstitions,  of  many  valueless  dog- 
mas and  not  a  few  equally  valueless  rules  of  conduct, 
of  antiquated  ways  of  thinking  and  doing  things.  A 
long  farewell  to  such  flotsam  and  jetsam !  But,  inci- 
dentally, owing  to  panic  while  "  beaten  about  in  Adria," 
some  valuable  freight  has  gone  with  it.  No  one  re- 
grets the  "  ruin  of  the  bad  "  or  the  ''  wasting  of  the 
wrong  and  ill."  No  one  deplores  the  passing  of  ''  the 
outworn  right,  the  old  abuse,  the  pious  fraud  trans- 
parent grown,"  but  we  are  bound  to  lament  the  un- 
necessary loss  of  aught  that  would  be  of  permanent 
value  to  us. 

We  reckon  among  the  things  thus  needlessly  aban- 
doned, in  measure,  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the 
Deity  of  God. 

The  phrase  is  used  advisedly.  The  divine  character 
is  an  absolute  symmetry  of  all  perfect  attributes.  The 
ancient  symbol  of  Deity  was  a  circle ;  an  arc  of  the 
circle  cannot  represent  God.     It  is  not  enough  to  say 


THROWING  THINGS   OVERBOARD  33 

IHat  "  God  is  Love."  Here  is  the  mistake  of  these  days. 
In  leaving  out  the  sterner  aspect  of  Deity  we  have 
Icept  but  a  fractional  part  of  God.  We  have  sup- 
planted the  circle  with  the  arc. 

•  A  few  years  ago  as  Dr.  Berry  and  Dr.  Dale,  of  Man- 
chester, were  leaving  an  ecclesiastical  Conference,  the 
former  remarked,  "  Well,  my  brother,  we  seem  to 
have  been  taking  great  liberties  with  God  in  this  Con- 
ference ;  "  to  which  the  latter  replied,  "  Yes  ;  I  wonder 
if  anybody  is  afraid  of  Him  in  these  days."  It  should 
be  obvious  to  the  most  superficial  thinker  that  a  God 
who  can  be  loved  but  not  feared,  with  whom  "  liberties  " 
can  be  taken  by  men  whose  breath  is  in  their  nostrils, 
who  is  not  viewed  with  reverent  awe  as  well  as  humble 
gratitude,  is  really  no  God  at  all,  but  a  thing  to  be 
scorned  and  renounced  as  below  the  perfection  of  a 
well-balanced  man.  In  a  true  conception  of  God, 
Mercy  and  Truth  must  meet  together,  and  Righteous- 
ness and  Peace  must  kiss  each  other.  He  is  "  a 
Spirit,  infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable  in  His  being, 
wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness  and  truth." 
All  these  attributes  unite  to  constitute  the  great  circle 
of  His  character. 

It  is  to  be  feared,  also,  that  we  have  lost  the  just 
emphasis  which  should  be  placed  on  the  Humanity  of 
Christ. 

It  is  of  immense  importance,  of  course,  that  we 
should  insist  upon  Christ's  divinity ;  but  the  greatest 
danger,  as  I  apprehend,  is  not  at  this  point.  Not  that 
Christ's  divinity  is  universally  conceded ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  denied  not  only  by  His  avowed  enemies, 
but  by  certain  of  His  own  household.  Antichrist  is 
the  perpetual  heresy.     Nevertheless,  the  heart  of  the 


34  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Church  beats  true;  and  the  great  body  of  those  who 
profess  to  be  the  followers  of  Christ  are  united  in  their 
ascription  of  divine  honours  to  Him  as  "  very  God 
of  very  God.''  But  in  our  jealousy  for  the  vindica- 
tion of  His  divinity,  there  is  danger  of  losing  sight 
of  the  complementary  truth  of  His  humanity;  to  wit, 
that  He  is  "  very  man  of  very  man."  We  may  so 
gaze  upon  His  transcendent  glory,  sitting  upon  a  throne 
high  and  lifted  up,  as  to  lose  sight  of  Him  standing 
in  our  doorway  as  at  Bethany  saying,  "  Peace  be  within 
this  house ! "  It  is  on  the  human  side  of  His  nature 
that  Christ  touches  us  and  enables  us,  through  Him, 
to  touch  God. 

It  is  through  Him  as  "the  first  born  among  many 
brethren,"  flesh  of  our  flesh  and  bone  of  our  bone, 
that  we  find  divine  sympathy  in  our  pains  and  sor- 
rows, trials  and  temptations. 

So    near,    so   very    near    to    God, 

Nearer  I  cannot  be; 
For  in  the  person  of  His  Son 

I  am  as  near  as  He. 

We  come  upon  Him  thus  in  the  throng  and  press 
of  human  life,  like  the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood, 
and,  touching  Him,  w^e  find  healing  and  salvation. 

We  have  thrown  over,  furthermore,  a  proper  real- 
ization of  the  sinfulness  of  sin. 

All  things  are  reduced  in  our  time  to  a  physical 
basis.  Our  shibboleth  is  Evolution;  and  thought, 
emotion,  moral  conceptions  must  be  brought  into  line 
with  it.  The  germ  theory  is  exploited  as  furnishing 
a  clew  to  the  labyrinth  of  moral  problems.  Sin  is 
one  of  the  phenomena  which  must  be  accounted  for 
in  this  way.     It  is  a  physical  malady,  due  to  heredity 


THROWING    THINGS    OVERBOARD  35 

and  environment,  and  to  be  dealt  with  accordingly. 
A  while  ago  the  bacillus  of  indolence  was  announced ; 
and  the  professors  of  moral  therapeutics  have  long 
since  made  us  familiar  with  the  germs  of  kleptomania, 
dipsomania  and  other  phases  of  sin. 

The  old  view  is  that  "  sin  is  any  want  of  conformity 
unto,  or  transgression  of,  the  divine  law,"  involving 
the  necessity  of  a  divine  interposition  to  cure  it.  The 
other  view  obviously  precludes  the  necessity  of  the 
Cross  or  of  any  other  interposition  save  on  the  part  of 
penologists  and  clever  physicians.  Is  it  not  time,  in 
all  reason,  to  cry  a  halt  ? 

If  there  is  any  truth  in  our  religion,  sin  is  a  hell- 
deserving  offense  against  holy  law ;  and,  unless  there 
be  some  supernatural  deliverance,  it  is  bound  to  involve 
the  sinner  in  spiritual  and  eternal  death;  that  is  to 
say,  alienation  from  God.  The  loss,  in  any  measure, 
of  this  view  of  sin  is  a  real  and  momentous  loss,  be- 
cause it  leaves  God  out  of  the  reckoning,  impairs  the 
sense  of  accountability,  nullifies  the  atonement  and  if 
followed  to  its  logical  conclusion  lands  the  soul  in  outer 
darkness  for  ever. 

It  would  appear,  also,  that  in  the  unlading  of  recent 
years  we  have  parted  with  the  severe,  time-honoured 
and  salutary  view  of  the  sanctity  of  law. 

An  essayist  at  a  recent  Conference  expressed  himself 
on  this  wise :  "  It  is  useless  for  preachers  to  thunder, 
'  Thou  shalt '  any  longer.  We  have  reached  the  age 
of  moral  suasion.  The  people  are  not  disposed  to  be 
temperate,  go  to  church,  keep  the  Sabbath  or  do  any 
other  desirable  thing  on  the  ground  of  obligation.  The 
imperativeness  of  duty  is  worn  out;  but  all  minds  are 
open  to  persuasion." 


36  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

This  is  vastly  important,  if  true ;  because  it  touches 
the  foundations  of  character.  It  is  more  than  impor- 
tant ;  it  is  portentous.  Reason  has  its  place ;  but  woe 
worth  the  day  when  reason  usurps  the  place  of  con- 
science, or  when  inclination  supplants  obligation.  God, 
indeed,  stoops  to  persuade  men,  as  He  says,  "  Come 
now,  let  us  reason  together  ;  "  but  there  comes  an  end 
of  persuasion  when  He  says,  ''  Be  still  and  know  that 
I  am  God!" 

The  vision  of  Ezekiel  in  which  he  saw  the  throne  of 
Judgment  overarched  with  a  rainbow  of  mercy,  is  no 
truer  than  that  of  Habakkuk :  "  God  came  from 
Teman  and  the  holy  one  from  Paran.  His  glory  cov- 
ered the  heavens,  and  the  earth  was  full  of  His  praise. 
He  had  horns  coming  out  of  His  hand :  and  there  was 
the  hiding  of  His  power.  Before  Him  went  the  pesti- 
lence, and  burning  coals  were  under  His  feet.  The 
everlasting  mountains  were  scattered  and  the  perpetual 
hills  did  bow !  " 

It  matters  not  how  God  may  condescend,  He  ever 
reserves  the  right  to  command.  Though  He  stand  at 
the  comer  of  the  street,  huckstering  His  wares,  "  Ho, 
every  one  that  thirsteth  !  Come  ye,  buy  and  eat !  Buy 
wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price !  " 
He  has,  nevertheless,  not  abdicated  the  throne  from 
which,  with  the  voice  of  many  thunderings.  He  cries, 
'*  Thou  Shalt !  "  and  "  Thou  shalt  not."  His  hands  are 
stretched  out  still,  but  the  Day  of  Judgment  has  lost 
none  of  its  terrors.  The  imperativeness  of  duty  has 
not  changed  a  jot  or  tittle  in  the  progress  of  the  ages. 
When  we  have  weighed  pro  and  contra  the  utility  of 
things  and  the  desirableness  of  doing  this  or  that,  con- 
science illuminated  by  the  Spirit  is  still  the  Court  of 


THROWING    THINGS    OVERBOARD  37 

Last  Appeal.  Law  is  the  most  tremendous  fact  in  the 
universe.  Right  is  sovereign.  Ought  is  the  weightiest 
syllable  in  human  language ;  weigh  it  against  will  and 
thought  and  joy  and  pain  and  life  and  death,  and  it 
outweighs  them  all. 

In  the  course  of  events  we  have  also  managed  to  rid 
ourselves  of  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  discipline  in 
the  Church  of  God. 

And  this  we  have  done  despite  our  best  judgment  as 
guided  by  both  reason  and  revelation.  For  years  the 
policy  of  the  Church  has  been  inclusion.  Gather  them 
in !  Candidates  for  membership  are,  as  a  rule,  sub- 
jected to  the  most  superficial  examination  with  respect 
to  doctrine  and  life.  And  once  in,  no  matter  what  their 
belief  or  conduct  may  be,  they  are  in  to  stay.  Appli- 
cants for  admission  to  social  clubs  are  blackballed  on 
occasion,  and  members  are  expelled  when  circum- 
stances require  it.  A  soldier  is  cashiered  for  conduct 
unbecoming  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.  But  there  is 
no  such  purging  of  the  Church. 

In  apostolic  times  a  man  who  scandalized  the  fel- 
lowship by  incorrigible  indulgence  in  known  sin  was 
made  "  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican,"  to  the  end 
that  he  might  be  reclaimed  and  brought  again  into 
vital  fellowship  with  Christ.  This  is  the  rule  of  rea- 
son and  the  Scriptures ;  but  it  has  gone  wholly  out  of 
fashion. 

The  result  is  that  not  infrequently  the  world  points 
the  finger  of  scorn  and  derision  at  a  church  member, 
saying,  "  A  fine  Christian,  he !  "  We  have  thus  given 
occasion  to  the  enemy  to  blaspheme.  In  the  light  of 
such  considerations  can  we  excuse  ourselves  for  this 
departure  from  the  original  method  as  prescribed  for 


38  CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

us  ?  Did  Christ  mean  anything  when,  at  the  beginning 
and  again  at  the  close  of  His  ministry,  He  entered  the 
temple  with  a  scourge  in  His  hand  and  divine  author- 
ity flashing  from  His  eyes,  and  swept  out  those  who 
defiled  it?  If  there  is  to  be  any  judgment  against 
wrong  living  in  this  world,  ought  not  such  judgment 
to  begin  at  the  house  of  God  ? 

We  note  still  further  a  conspicuous  loss  of  home 
piety  in  these  days. 

The  Lord  setteth  the  solitary  in  families.  He  in- 
tended the  home  to  be  "  a  little  space  enclosed  by 
grace  out  of  the  world's  vast  wilderness."  The  life 
of  Robert  Burns  was  a  sad  failure  in  many  ways ;  but 
the  world  can  never  repay  him  for  his  sweet  picture 
of  the  home  at  Alloway,  with  the  altar  and  the  family 
gathered  about  it. 

The  cheerfu'  supper  done,  wi'  serious  face, 

They,  round  the  ingle,  form  a  circle  wide; 
The   sire    turns   o'er,   wi'    patriarchal    grace, 

The  big  ha'-Bible,  ance  his  father's  pride; 
His  bonnet  reverently  is  laid  aside, 

His  lyart  haffets  wearing  thin  and  bare: 
Those  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide. 

He  wales  a  portion  with  judicious  care; 
And,  "  Let  us  worship  God !  "  he  says  with   solemn  air. 

But,  alas,  in  many  a  Christian  home  such  scenes  are 
but  a  memory.  Where  is  the  family  altar?  What 
has  become  of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  so  fraught  with 
blessings  in  the  house  of  Obed-edom?  Where  is  the 
old-time  Sunday  with  its  hours  of  worship  and  Chris- 
tian instruction  and  sweet  fellowship  in  heavenly 
things?  The  Sunday  newspaper  has  intruded  on  the 
sacred  scene.     Prayer  is  crowded  into  a  parenthesis. 


THROWING   THINGS    OVERBOARD  39 

The  study  of  the  Scriptures  is  neglected.  Attendance 
on  the  sanctuary  is  a  perfunctory  affair.  Shall  we 
call  this  a  gain,  or  an  inestimable  loss? 

Do  we  believe  in  the  Covenant,  any  more ;  the  Cove- 
nant which  God  made  Abraham  saying,  "  I  will  estab- 
lish My  Covenant  between  Me  and  thee  and  thy  seed 
after  thee  in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting  Cove- 
nant, to  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee  ?  " 

Is  it  strange  that  Christian  parents  who  forget  that 
Covenant  should  be  left  to  bemoan  their  prodigal  sons 
and  daughters  ?  Its  truth  is  likened  to  the  ordinances 
of  heaven.  Its  inviolability  is  that  of  planetary  law. 
God  called  the  stars  of  heaven  to  witness  that  he  would 
be  faithful  to  the  household  of  Abraham.  So  accu- 
rate are  the  laws  of  the  heavenly  bodies  that  an  astron- 
omer can  predict  to  the  millionth  part  of  a  second 
when  an  eclipse  will  occur  at  the  meridian  of  Wash- 
ington a  thousand  years  from  now.  So  true  and  trust- 
worthy are  the  laws  which  regulate  the  Covenant  which 
God  makes  with  His  people  for  themselves  and  for 
their  children.  But  if  we  forget  this  Covenant,  what 
assurance  have  we?  God  remains  true,  though  all 
men  be  false.  He  would  save  our  children  and  bring 
us  together  as  unbroken  households  in  His  heavenly 
house;  but  to  this  end  He  requires  faith  in  the  Cove- 
nant, and  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  which 
are  involved  in  it. 

Once  more  we  observe  a  disposition,  in  these  days, 
to  ignore  or  belittle  the  importance  of  loyalty  to  truth. 

What  difference  does  it  make  what  a  man  believes 
about  God  or  the  Bible  or  Christ  or  immortality,  so 
long  as  he  tells  no  lies,  pays  his  honest  debts  and  deals 
fairly  with  his  fellow  men? 


40  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

We  have  been  told  that  our  fathers  were  afflicted 
with  "  credomania ;  "  that  is,  they  were  bond-slaves 
to  dogma.  Perhaps  so;  but  certain  it  is  that  we  are 
not  thus  afflicted.  It  is  not  credomania  but  credo- 
phobia  that  ails  us.  We  have  swung  far  to  the  other 
extreme.  We  laugh  at  creeds ;  forgetting  that  "  as 
a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  No  man  is 
better  than  his  creed.  Truth  is  the  pou  sto  of  char- 
acter, the  fulcrum  of  life.  Looseness  of  faith  is  bound 
to  develop  into  looseness  of  conduct.  We  cannot  be 
too  jealous  for  the  truth. 

There  are  some  who  wear  their  creeds  as  crusta- 
ceans do  their  shells,  on  the  outside;  and  every  now 
and  then  they  shed  them.  But  a  true  creed  is  like  the 
bony  system  of  the  vertebrates;  it  goes  through  and 
through,  and  is  identified  with  the  welfare  of  every 
nerve  and  sinew.  By  this  we  determine  between  the 
lower  and  higher  orders  of  life,  and  by  this  we  meas- 
ure the  strength  of  a  man. 

In  passing,  let  us  recall  the  fact  that  the  Alexandrian 
corn-ship  was  wrecked  in  spite  of  her  unlading.  It 
would  have  been  better  had  she  not  ventured  into  the 
storm,  as  Paul  said :  "  Sirs,  I  perceive  that  this  voyage 
will  be  with  hurt  and  much  damage,  not  only  of  the 
lading  and  ship,  but  also  of  our  lives ; "  but  once  in 
the  storm,  she  might  better  have  kept  her  deck-freight, 
her  movables  and  her  precious  cargo  of  wheat.  They 
might  have  been  preserved,  if  as  ballast  only,  to  pre- 
vent the  vessel  from  being  stranded  and  broken  to 
pieces.  It  may  be  necessary  and  often  is,  in  the  course 
of  an  earnest  life,  to  throw  over  whatever  hampers  and 
hinders  us ;  but  let  us  avoid  the  needless  abandonment 
of  essential   things.       The   Germans   have   a  homely 


THROWING    THINGS   OVERBOARD  41 

proverb  about  the  folly  of  ''  throwing  out  the  baby 
with  the  bathwater."  Here  is  the  danger.  Where- 
fore, in  the  unlading  of  the  ship,  let  us,  if  we  would 
bring  our  precious  cargo  to  the  desired  haven,  pre- 
serve the  fundamentals  of  faith  and  conduct,  as  they 
are  recorded  in  the  Written  and  illustrated  in  the  life 
and  teachings  of  the  Incarnate  Word  of  God. 


IV 
CUTTING  DOWN  FRUIT  TREES 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  said,  off  and  on,  about 
the  barbarism  of  primitive  warfare;  but 
there  is  reason  to  beUeve  that  human  nature, 
armed  and  armoured,  never  had  more  of  the  tiger  in  it 
than  now.  One  of  our  great  generals,  who  was  in  a 
position  to  know  about  the  matter,  said  that  "  war  is 
hell."  If  that  holds  true  in  these  enlightened  days — 
if  homes  are  burned,  wells  poisoned  and  children  ex- 
posed to  the  fury  of  the  elements  in  open  camps — what 
should  be  expected  of  the  people  who  lived  three  thou- 
sand years  ago? 

Yet  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  we  have  an  elaborate 
code  of  rules  and  regulations  designed  to  modify  the 
horrors  of  war;  a  code  so  just,  benign  and  practical 
that  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  International 
Conference  at  The  Hague  made  any  considerable  im- 
provement upon  it.  One  of  its  provisions  had  to  do 
with  the  preservation  of  fruit-trees  as  follows : 

"  When  thou  shalt  besiege  a  city  a  long  time,  in 
making  war  against  it  to  take  it,  thou  shalt  not  destroy 
the  trees  thereof  by  forcing  an  ax  against  them :  for 
thou  mayest  eat  of  them  and  thou  shalt  not  cut  them 
down  (for  the  tree  of  the  field  is  man's  life)  to  employ 
them  in  the  siege :  only  the  trees  which  thou  knowest 
that  they  be  not  trees  for  meat,  thou  shalt  destroy  and 
cut  them  down."  (Deut.  xx:i9-2o). 

In  order  to  know  the  full  significance  of  this  injunc- 

43 


44  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

tion,  one  must  remember  the  part  which  the  orchard 
plays  in  Oriental  life.  The  markets  may  be  closed,  the 
fields  neglected,  the  herds  and  flocks  confiscated;  but 
the  lives  of  innocent  home-keepers  are  safe  so  long  as 
the  fig  and  the  olive  and  the  palm  withhold  not  their 
fruit.  So  it  is  a  malignant  hand  that  destroys  the 
fruit-trees. 

Our  purpose  is  not,  however,  to  expatiate  on  ancient 
rules  of  war;  it  brings  us  rather  into  the  field  of  re- 
ligious controversy.  The  world  has  ever  been  divided 
into  two  hostile  camps, — defenders  of  the  truth  and 
enemies  of  it.  The  fiercest  wars  in  history  have  been 
accessory  to  this  division ;  as,  in  the  Crusades,  what 
seemed  to  be  the  clash  of  steel  under  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem was  indeed  the  Koran  against  the  Scriptures,  or 
the  False  Prophet  against  the  Incarnate  Word  of  God. 

The  destroyer  is  always  abroad  in  the  land.  No  be- 
liever is  allowed  to  rest  in  undisputed  possession  of 
any  truth.  The  poet  Whittier's  picture  of  "  The  Re- 
former "  is  full  of  vivid  suggestion : 

All    grim   and    soiled   and   browned   with   tan 

I  saw  a  Strong  One,  in  his  wrath, 
Smiting  the  godless  shrines  of  men 

Along   his   path. 

The   Church   beneath   her   trembling   dome 
Essayed  in  vain  her  ghostly  charm, 

Wealth  shook  within  his  gilded  home 
In  strange  alarm. 

Fraud  from  his  secret  chambers  fled 

Before  the  sunlight  bursting  in, 
Sloth  drew  her  pillow  o'er  her  head 

To  drown  the  din. 


CUTTING  DOWN  FRUIT  TREES  45 

"  Spare,"  Art  implored,  "  yon  holy  pile, 

That  grand  old  time-worn  turret  spare." 
Meek  Reverence,  kneeling  in  the  aisle, 
Cried  out,  "  Forbear !  " 


Gray-bearded  Use,   who   deaf  and  blind, 
Groped  for  his  old  accustomed  stone, 

Leaned  on  his  staff,  and  wept  to  find 
His  seat  o'erthrown. 

Young  Romance  raised  his  dreamy  eyes 
O'erhung,  with  paly  locks  of  gold, 
"  Why,  smite,"  he  asked  in  sad  surprise, 
"The  fair,  the  old?" 

Yet  louder  rang  the  Strong  One's  stroke. 
Yet  nearer  flashed  his  ax's  gleam; 

Shuddering  and   sick  of  heart   I   woke. 
As  from  a  dream. 


We  are  naturally  zealous  for  our  faith.  It  were 
well  if  this  woodman  had  designs  only  on  ''  the  godless 
shrines  of  men ;  "  but  unfortunately  his  ax  is  often- 
times laid  at  the  root  of  the  life-giving  doctrines  of  our 
religion.  He  has  invaded  the  Lord's  orchard,  despite 
the  ancient  rule  of  humanity  in  war;  and  the  goodly 
trees  under  whose  shadow  our  fathers  took  delight  and 
whose  fruit  was  sweet  to  their  taste,  echo  to  his  fierce 
blows.  In  this  there  is  no  occasion  for  alarm.  The 
war  against  truth  is  as  old  as  the  memory  of  man.  It 
was  long  ago  that  Voltaire  said,  '*  I  will  go  through 
your  theological  forest  and  girdle  every  tree;  so  that 
in  a  quarter  of  a  century  not  a  sapling  shall  be  left  to 
you."  Where  now  is  the  axman?  But  the  forest  re- 
mains.    "  The  Lord's  trees  are  full  of  sap." 


46  CHRIST;  A  NDPROGRESS 

I.  The  truth  of  all  truths,  in  our  religion,  is  the 
Being  and  Fatherhood  of  God. 

This  is  that  magical  tree,  called  by  the  Norsemen 
"  Ydnafil,"  whose  roots  are  on  earth,  whose  branches 
are  in  heaven  and  whose  life-sustaining  fruit  is  ever 
falling  among  the  children  of  men.  The  most  specious 
assaults  of  unbelief  are  directed  against  this  doctrine. 

If  it  be  said  there  are  no  atheists  in  these  days, — 
granted.  Open  and  avowed  atheism  has  been  dis- 
credited by  its  results;  but  its  philosophy  is  still  cur- 
rent, expressed  in  subtlest  terms.  God  is  not  denied 
but  depersonalised.  He  is  defined  to  be  Law,  Force, 
the  all-pervading  Soul  of  the  Universe,  a  Something 
not  ourselves  that  Maketh  for  Righteousness.  To  all 
intents  and  purposes  this  is  to  say,  ''  There  is  no  God." 
For  what  care  I  for  a  God  that  hath  no  eyes  to  see, 
no  heart  to  pity  and  no  hands  to  help?  This  is  the 
mere  ghost  of  a  god. 

His  Providence  is  denied. 

Shakespeare  said,  "  There's  a  Divinity  that  shapes 
our  ends,  rough  hew  them  how  we  will."  And  a  wiser 
than  Shakespeare  said,  "  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field, 
how  they  grow.  They  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin : 
yet  your  heavenly  Father  clotheth  them.  Shall  He  not 
much  more  care  for  you  ?  "  But  the  undevout  phil- 
osopher of  our  time  denies  in  toto  the  interposition  of 
God  in  the  afifairs  of  human  life.  He  is  a  mere  me- 
chanical deity,  blind  as  Buddh  and  indifferent  to  our 
welfare  as  the  Sphinx  of  the  desert. 

And  this  disposes  of  Prayer,  too. 

We  have  heard  a  great  promise,  'Ask,  and  it  shall 
be  given  unto  you ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you."     But  prayer,  they 


CUTTING   DOWN    FRUIT  TREES  47 

tell  us,  is  valuable  only  for  its  reflex  influence.  It 
does  not  "  move  the  hand  that  moves  the  world ;  "  it 
moves  nothing.  It  is  like  the  message  which  a  ship- 
wrecked mariner  puts  into  a  bottle  and  commits  to  the 
tossing  seas ;  perhaps  a  child,  wading  by  the  shore, 
may  find  it ;   more  likely  it  will  never  be  found  at  all. 

If  the  suggestions  of  the  destructive  philosophy  of 
our  time  are  to  prevail,  the  doctrine  of  the  immanence 
of  God  must  go. 

Farewell,  our  Father !  We  have  bowed  to  Thee  in 
six  troubles  and  in  seven ;  supposing  Thee  to  be  "  an 
help  to  the  poor  and  to  the  needy  in  his  distress ; "  but 
there  is  no  answer  nor  any  that  regardeth.  Was 
Laban  bereaved  in  the  loss  of  his  poor  Teraphim? 
What  orphans,  then,  are  we !  Did  we  rest  in  God's 
love  ?  But  what  heart  is  there  in  insensate  Law  !  Or 
how  can  we  plead  with  Bathybius  or  the  Whirlwind? 
Farewell,  thou  gracious  One !  Nor  can  we  even  cry  in 
this  lonely  solitude,  "  God  pity  us !  " 

II.  The  ax  of  the  woodman  is  lifted,  also,  against 
the  doctrine  of  Revelation. 

This  is  that  Tree  of  Knowledge,  under  which  we 
sit  contemplating  the  great  verities  of  the  spiritual 
life.  If  there  be  no  standard  of  authority,  there  can, 
obviously,  be  no  certainty  as  to  truth.  Jason,  in  search 
of  the  Golden  Fleece,  must  be  able  to  direct  his  going 
by  the  North  Star,  else  all  is  "  dead  reckoning  "  and 
he  is  at  his  wit's  end. 

There  are  only  three  conceivable  seats  of  authority 
in  the  province  of  spiritual  things : 

One  is  "  the  infallible  Church ;  "  but  the  Church, 
divided  as  it  is,  speaks  with  a  diverse  tongue. 

Another  is  the  Bible,  our  "  infallible  rule  of  faith 


48  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

and  practice."  There  is  an  antecedent  presumption 
that,  if  there  be  a  God  of  love  anywhere  in  the  universe, 
He  would  not  leave  His  children  without  some  sort  of 
trustworthy  revelation  of  His  holy  will.  The  Bible 
claims  to  be  such  a  revelation ;  saying  of  itself  that  it 
was  written  by  **  holy  men  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

But  suppose  the  Church  and  the  Bible  alike  be  re- 
nounced, what  remains?  Only  the  third  standard  of 
authority,  which  is  Reason,  or  the  inner  consciousness 
of  the  individual.  But  observe  where  this  lands  us; 
every  man  becomes  an  ultimate  law  unto  himself. 
Could  presumption  further  go ?  "I  am  Sir  Oracle, 
and  when  I  ope  my  lips  let  no  dog  bark !  "  We  have 
rejected  the  infallible  Church,  and  the  infallible  Book, 
only  to  affix  our  faith  to  an  infallible  Ego. 

But,  in  any  event,  the  Bible  must  go. 

This  is  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  anti-Biblical 
criticism  of  our  time.  Farewell,  old  Book !  The  in- 
exorable censor  has  been  sitting  like  Jehoiakim  before 
the  fireplace  in  his  summer  house,  Bible  on  knee  and 
penknife  in  hand,  calmly  mutilating  the  only  trust- 
worthy franchise  of  our  Christian  hopes !  O  ye  bibli- 
cal experts,  who  from  your  pulpits  and  theological 
chairs  delight  to  hurl  ill-grounded  propositions  against 
the  impregnable  Rock  of  Holy  Scripture,  has  it  not 
occurred  to  you  that  immortal  souls  are  in  the  range 
of  your  reckless  fire  ?  Ye  have  turned  the  laughter  of 
many  a  weak  believer  into  tears  of  hopeless  doubt,  and 
taken  from  those  who  venture  into  the  bleak  wilder- 
ness of  temptation  their  only  weapon  of  defense;  to 
wit,  "  The  Sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  Word 
of  God ! " 


CUTTING  DOWN  FRUIT  TREES  49 

III.  And  another  point  of  attack  is  the  Doctrine  of 
our  Divine  Manhood. 

This  is  our  "  family  tree."  Our  Hneage  runs  back- 
ward through  an  honourable  ancestry,  concluding  thus : 
— '*  who  was  the  son  of  Seth,  who  was  the  son  of 
Adam,  who  was  the  son  of  God."  We  have  thought 
that  man  was  created  in  the  divine  likeness :  God 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  Hfe  and  made 
him  a  living  soul.  But  your  iconoclast  will  have  none 
of  this ;  the  biblical  account  of  man's  origin  is  a  fig- 
ment of  the  imagination.  "Adam  is  a  myth."  Man  is 
evolved  from  a  primordial  germ  by  the  calm  processes 
of  natural  law.  His  brain  is  phosphorus.  Thought 
is  the  result  of  atomic  friction  in  the  gray  contents  of 
the  skull. 

And,  of  course,  there  is  nothing  in  the  story  of  the 
"  Fall."  The  old  definition  of  sin,  "  any  want  of  con- 
formity unto  or  transgression  of  the  divine  law,"  is 
ruled  out.  Sin  is  a  disease;  something  to  be  healed 
with  a  potion  or  a  plaster.  Its  various  phases  are 
"  manias  :  "  inebriety  is  dipsomania ;  dishonesty  is  klep- 
tomania. The  man  who  sins  against  society  is  no 
longer  a  criminal  to  be  punished,  but  an  invalid,  an  un- 
fortunate, to  be  fed  and  clothed  and  coddled  at  the 
public  cost. 

This  involves,  manifestly,  a  loss  of  the  personal 
sense  of  responsibility.  There  can  be  no  responsibility 
where  there  is  only  a  mechanical  yielding  to  the  force 
of  circumstances.  If  this  conclusion  seem  unwar- 
ranted, let  another,  not  known  as  "  a  conservative," 
be  permitted  to  speak.  The  President  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota,  in  a  recent  address  before  the 
Chicago  Baptist  Union,  uttered  these  weighty  words: 


50  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  in  looking  at  the  religious 
condition  of  the  country  we  are  confronted  by  four 
marked  changes  which  have  grown  into  prominence 
in  the  last  few  years.  If  I  am  wrong  I  shall  be  glad 
to  know  it,  and  if  I  am  right  I  shall  be  grateful,  as 
I  am  sure  you  all  will  be,  to  any  biblical  scholar  who 
will  show  us  the  truth.  These  changes  stated  briefly 
are:  First — A  decay  of  belief  in  the  Supernatural. 
Second — What  I  may  call  the  disintegration  of  the 
Bible.  Third  —  New  views  respecting  Inspiration. 
Fourth — Loss  of  the  sense  of  Accountability.  These 
four  changes  are  essentially  one.  At  least  they  are 
shoots  from  a  common  root, — and  that  root  is  doubt 
as  to  whether  God  has  ever  had  any  communication 
with  men." 

Nor  is  this  all :  the  doctrine  of  immortality  must  go. 
One  of  these  days  this  man,  evolved  from  a  primordial 
germ  by  natural  law,  must  die.  What  then?  Shall 
the  body  return  to  the  dust  as  it  was  and  the  soul  to 
God  who  gave  it  ?  Nay,  what  is  this  "  soul  "  but  a 
product  of  the  dust?  What  is  there  to  return  to  the 
God  who  never  gave  it? 

IV.  But  further  still,  the  Gospel  must  go,  with  all 
that  is  essentially  involved  in  it.  The  ax  of  the  wood- 
man is  lifted  against  the  Tree  of  Life,  the  Tree  whose 
leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

The  Godhood  of  Jesus  is  denied.  "  What  matters 
it,"  says  the  "  liberal  "  pastor  of  an  orthodox  flock, 
"  whether  Jesus  was  Joseph's  son  or  not,  since  religion 
is  not  dogma  but  life  ?  "  And,  "  It  is  absurd,"  says  a 
liberal  professor  in  an  orthodox  seminary,  **  to  believe 
the  scriptural  account  of  the  supernatural  birth  of 
Jesus,  in  these  enlightened  days." 


CUTTING  DOWN   FRUIT    TREES  51 

What  then  of  the  Atonement?  The  sufferings  of 
Jesus  have  no  vicarious  value.  His  "  blood  "  is  no 
more  effective  than  that  of  bulls  and  goats.  Sing  no 
more  ''Alas,  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed,  and  did  my 
Sovereign  die  ?  "  or  "  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with 
blood,  drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins."  It  is  insisted 
that  we  are  saved  not  by  the  atoning  death  of  Christ 
but  by  the  example  of  His  beautiful  life. 

And,  if  these  enemies  of  the  faith  are  to  be  believed, 
we  have  no  prevailing  Intercessor  in  heaven.  We  have 
fondly  thought  of  Him  as  looking  down  upon  us  from 
His  throne  of  judicial  sovereignty,  concerned  for  our 
welfare,  making  all  things  work  together  for  our  good, 
and  expecting  to  stand  as  our  Friend  at  Court  in  the 
Great  Day. 

Arise,  my  soul,  arise; 

Shake  off  thy  guilty  fears; 

The  bleeding  sacrifice 

In  my  behalf  appears; 

Before  the  throne  my  Surety  stands, 

My  name  is  written  on  His  hands. 

He  ever  lives  above. 

For   me    to    intercede, 

His  all-redeeming  love, 

His  precious  blood  to  plead; 

His  blood  atoned  for  all  our  race, 

And  sprinkles  now  the  throne  of  grace. 

Five  bleeding  wounds  He  bears. 
Received  on  Calvary; 
They  pour  effectual  prayers, 
They   strongly  plead  for  me; 
Forgive  him,  O,  forgive,  they  cry. 
Nor  let  that  ransomed  sinner  die! 


52         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

But  we  are  advised  that  there  is  nothing  in  this. 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  a  super-excellent  man  and 
nothing  more.  Farewell,  thou  Author  and  Finisher 
of  our  faith !  If  the  things  which  are  being  said  of 
Thee  by  Thine  enemies  and  false  friends  are  to  be  be- 
lieved, our  faith  is  vain ;  they  that  have  fallen  asleep 
in  Thee  are  perished,  and  we  are  yet  in  our  sins. 

But  how  dark  it  is !  Sun,  moon  and  stars  are 
quenched  in  hopeless  night.  We  are  marooned;  left 
on  an  Island  of  Despair,  the  Ship  of  Faith  vanishing 
on  the  distant  horizon.  "  They  have  taken  away  my 
Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  Him ! " 

But  these  things  shall  not  be.  There  is  nothing  new 
in  the  assaults  made  upon  Christianity,  save  that  they 
are  less  vociferous  outside  the  gates  and  more  malig- 
nant within.  History  repeats  itself.  The  tempest 
spends  its  force.     The  thing  that  hath  been  shall  be. 

O  backward-looking  son  of  time, 
The  new  is  old,  the  old  is  new; 
The  cycle  of  a  change  sublime 
Still  sweeping  through. 

Whatever  becomes  of  us  amid  the  passing  storm, 
the  truth  is  certain  to  abide.  There  are  more  real 
Christians  to-day,  more  who  believe  with  an  unswerv- 
ing faith  in  the  Gospel  of  salvation  through  Christ, 
than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  world.  A  man, 
amid  the  tempests  of  controversy,  may  make  shipwreck 
of  his  faith;  but  Gibraltar  stands  and  the  ocean 
rolls  on. 

A  charmed  life  old  Goodness  hath ! 
The  tares  may  perish;  but  the  grain 
Is  not  for  death. 


CUTTING  DOWN   FRUIT   TREES  53 

The  prophecies  of  disaster  to  the  Christian  faith  all 
go  the  way  of  Voltaire's  empty  boast :  the  axman  dies ; 
the  trees  live  on. 

But  it  behooves  us  to  guard  against  the  danger  of 
personal  apostasy.  The  world  is  not  willing  to  have 
us  believe  in  God  and  the  Bible  and  the  Gospel  of  Life. 
The  destroyers  of  faith  are  on  every  side.  Take  heed 
to  thyself,  therefore,  and  to  the  doctrine !  Let  no  man 
take  thy  crown !  They  tell  us  we  confide  in  dreams 
and  errors.  At  the  worst,  so  be  it !  Do  they  offer  us 
aught  better?  Will  the  famishing  sailor  who  smiles 
in  his  last  sleep,  dreaming  of  feasts  and  fountains, 
thank  the  comrade  who  wakes  him  to  the  sane  horrors 
of  starvation  ?  Nay,  let  us  dream  on !  Let  us  die 
dreaming  of  the  cross  and  the  open  gates  of  heaven! 

But,  blessed  be  God,  this  is  no  dream.  Our  beliefs 
are  not  "  cunningly  devised  fables."  Our  hopes  are 
not  castles  in  the  air.  They  rest  on  the  surest  of  foun- 
dations, ""  Thus  saith  the  Lord!" 

One  thing  more :  Let  a  man  take  heed  how  he  wil- 
fully assails  the  faith  of  another.  My  brother,  be  no 
woodman  with  ax  in  hand,  destroying  the  fruit-trees 
of  your  fellow  men.  Be  a  builder !  Destroy  no  error, 
even,  unless  thou  hast  a  truth  wherewith  to  supplant  it. 
Break  no  cripple's  crutch ;  it  may  be  but  a  poor  thing, 
but  he  has  nothing  else  to  lean  on.  "  Tell  me  not  thy 
doubts,"  wrote  Goethe  to  a  friend ;  "  if  thou  believest 
anything,  in  God's  name  tell  me  that;  I  have  doubts 
enough  of  my  own."  Plant  trees  and  flowers  as  you 
pass  through  the  world ;  leave  not  desolation  behind 
you.     Help  men  on  toward  the  kingdom  of  God. 


THE  UNCHANGEABLE  CHRIST 


Sometimes  I  catch  sweet  glimpses  of  His  face, 

But  that  is  all. 
Sometimes  He    looks  on  me  and  seems  to  smile, 

But  that  is  all. 
Sometimes  He  speaks  a  passing  word  of  peace, 

But  that  is  all. 
Sometimes  I  think  I  hear  His  loving  voice, 

Upon  me  call. 


And  is  that  all  He  meant  when  thus  He  spoke, 

"Come  unto  Me?" 
Is  there  no  deeper,  more  enduring  rest 

In  Him  for  thee? 
Is  there  no  steadier  light  for  thee  in  Him? 

O,  come  and  see! 

HORATIUS  BONAR 


AT  THE  WELLSIDE 

OUR  Lord  was  an  itinerant;  He  had  no  parish 
but  went  hither  and  yon  preaching  the  Gospel. 
He  wore  no  gown  nor  surplice  nor  canonicals 
of  any  sort.  He  had  no  pulpit :  a  mound  in  the  valley, 
the  prow  of  a  little  boat  swinging  at  the  water's  edge, 
the  steps  of  Solomon's  Porch,  the  corner  of  the  street ; 
these  were  His  **  thrones  of  eloquence."  He  rang  no 
bell  to  summon  His  congregation,  but  went  out  into 
the  highways  and  hedges  after  it.  And  this  was  how 
He  chanced  to  be  at  Sychar  on  a  certain  memorable 
day.  He  knew  that  "  a  woman  who  was  a  sinner  " 
was  coming  to  draw  water  and  He  desired  to  meet 
her.  It  was  high  noon  when  He  reached  the  place; 
His  disciples  at  once  betook  themselves  to  the  city  to 
buy  food;  and,  left  alone,  wearied  with  His  journey, 
He  "  sat  thus  on  the  well  "  (John  iv:6). 

The  word  "  thus  "  is  full  of  practical  suggestion ;  it 
tells  the  whole  story  of  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  human 
life  and  experience.  For,  indeed.  He  who  sat  upon 
the  curb  that  day  has  in  no  wise  changed  His  attitude, 
but  is  the  same  forever  in  His  purposes  of  mercy 
toward  all  who  pass  by. 

I.  Observe,  He  sat  there  as  a  Man.  His  divinity  in 
no  measure  affected  the  fact  that  He  was  "  very  man  of 
very  man."  He  had  come  from  heaven,  through  the 
gateway  of  Bethlehem,  to  deliver  a  message  of  stupen- 

67 


58  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

dous  importance  to  the  children  of  men.  For  some 
thousands  of  years  the  divine  word  had  been  proclaimed 
by  angels,  theophanies,  and  prophets  with  fire-touched 
lips;  but  now  ''the  Word  is  made  flesh  and  dwells 
among  us."  Jesus  is  called  the  Word  because  He  is 
the  medium  of  communication  between  God  and  men. 
"  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners, 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets, 
hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  His  Son." 
And  this  Son  with  His  life-giving  message  was,  as 
Carlyle  would  say,  "  the  humanest "  preacher  that  ever 
spake  to  men.  He  had  emptied  Himself  of  all  glory — 
crown,  sceptre  and  royal  purple — that  in  human  guise 
He  might  draw  near  to  us.  He  stooped  to  conquer. 
His  posture  is  that  of  persuasion :  '*  Come  now,  let  us 
reason  together,"  saith  He ;  "  though  your  sins  be  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be 
red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool."  This  is 
preaching;  a  man  with  a  message  drawing  near  to 
men.     And  it  was  thus  that  He  sat  on  the  well. 

II.  He  w^as,  moreover,  a  Poor  Man.  He  had  come 
to  church  afoot  and  clad  in  homespun.  He  sympathized 
with  all  who,  like  Himself  and  His  little  group  of  fol- 
lowers, had  no  money  in  their  purse;  and  to  such  He 
brought  a  gospel  which  would  make  them  rich  toward 
God. 

His  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  neglected  multitude 
was  one  of  the  credentials  of  His  Messianic  office. 
"  Go  tell  John,"  He  said  to  certain  messengers  who 
had  come  from  the  Prophet  of  the  Wilderness  to  in- 
quire whether  He  was  really  the  Messiah  or  not — 
*'  Go  tell  John  that  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached 
unto  them." 


AT   THE    WELLSIDE  59 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  there  is  no  place  nor  wel- 
come for  the  poor  in  our  metropolitan  churches.  If 
there  be  a  church  anywhere  that  does  not  give  wel- 
come to  the  man  in  mean  apparel  as  well  as  to  him 
that  wears  the  gold  ring,  it  is  no  real  church  of  Christ, 
for  He  came  to  save  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 

I  see  a  little  group  of  peasant  folk  coming  up  the 
middle  aisle :  a  young  man  with  a  middle-aged  woman 
leaning  on  his  arm,  followed  by  a  company  of  sun- 
burned men  in  linsey-woolsey.  Are  there  wealthy 
pew-holders  who  look  askance  at  them  as  intruders? 
Nay ;  God  forbid !  Let  every  worshiper  rise  and  give 
them  welcome !  For  this  is  the  Lord  of  the  sanctuary 
with  His  mother  and  the  Twelve.  Set  up  your  con- 
ventional walls  of  separation  wherever  else  you  will, 
but  never  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ !  Here  is 
the  one  place  in  the  world  where  the  rich  and  the  poor 
should  meet  together  and  acknowledge  the  Lord  as  the 
Maker  of  them  all. 

If  it  be  true,  as  alleged  in  some  quarters,  that  the 
Church  has  measurably  lost  its  hold  upon  the  lower 
classes,  it  may  be  traced  to  a  departure  from  the  spirit 
of  social  fraternization  which  prevailed  among  the 
primitive  followers  of  Christ.  There  was  a  time  when 
*'  Not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  were  called ; " 
but  nowadays  the  Church  is  largely  recruited  from 
among  the  rich  and  influential :  and  while  this  may 
mean  an  accession  of  power  in  som.e  directions,  it  is 
certainly  not  an  unmixed  good ;  nay,  rather,  so  far  as 
it  may  stimulate  a  caste-spirit  it  is  wholly  disastrous 
to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

A  legend  says  that  once,  when  Thomas  Aquinas  was 
sitting  in  the  Vatican  with  Pope  Innocent  IV,  while 


60  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

contributions  of  gold  and  silver  were  being  carried  into 
the  papal  treasury,  the  Pope  said,  with  much  self- 
satisfaction,  "  You  see,  Brother  Thomas,  the  time  is 
past  when  the  Church  must  needs  say,  '  Silver  and 
gold  have  I  none.' "  To  which  the  Angelic  Doctor 
replied,  "  Yes,  Holy  Father,  the  time  is  also  past  when 
she  could  say  to  the  paralytic,  '  Take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk ! '  "  If  we  would  regain  our  influence  over  the 
unchurched  masses  we  must  assume  toward  them  the 
attitude  of  Christ  Himself,  Who  never  was  an  aristo- 
crat but  always  as  a  ^lan  of  the  People  entered  sympa- 
thetically into  their  utmost  needs  and  longings.  Let 
the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus  be  also  in  us. 

HI.  It  was,  furthermore,  as  a  Workingman  that  He 
sat  upon  the  well.  The  hands  which  were  lifted  in  in- 
vitation that  day  were  marked  with  the  callous  ridges 
of  toil. 

As  these  words  are  being  written  the  coal  barons  of 
the  Wyoming  Valley  and  their  employees  are  con- 
fronting one  another  with  fire  in  their  eyes.  I  seem  to 
see  them  passing  by  this  Alan  seated  on  the  curb  of  the 
well.  On  the  one  hand  the  capitalists  are  saying, 
'*  We  claim  the  right  to  combine  for  mutual  advan- 
tage." This  is  the  rationale  of  ''  trusts."  To  which 
the  Master,  in  pursuance  of  His  Gospel,  makes  answer, 
"Aye ;  combine  however  you  will ;  so  long  as  you  do 
not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  the  community  or  of 
other  men :  but  when,  by  your  trusts  and  syndicates, 
you  drive  the  small  producer  to  the  wall,  then,  hands 
ofif !  Live  and  let  live !  Do  as  ye  would  be  done  by." 
On  the  other  hand  the  employees  are  saying,  "  We 
claim  the  right  to  combine  in  our  labour  unions."  To 
which  He  answers,  "  Well  and  good,  so  long  as  by  so 


AT   THE    WELLSIDE  61 

doing  you  inflict  no  wrong  upon  the  community,  your 
employers,  or  your  fellow  workman.  But  when  you 
undertake  to  say  that  a  man  may  not  labour  for  whom 
and  when  and  on  whatsoever  terms  he  will,  call  off 
your  mobs !  Live  and  let  live !  Do  as  ye  would  be 
done  by." 

And  this  is  the  proposition  which  will  ultimately 
solve  the  problem.  Capital  has  its  rights ;  labour  also 
has  its  rights ;  but  neither  capital  nor  labour  has  the 
right  to  inflict  an  injury  upon  the  social  fabric.  It 
is  the  function  of  Law  to  determine  the  danger  line 
and  see  that  neither  party  crosses  it.  The  function  of 
the  Gospel  is  to  see  that  both  parties  are  so  Chris- 
tianized as  to  have  no  desire  to  cross  it. 

But  what  of  arbitration?  If  it  be  voluntary,  well 
and  good :  but  voluntary  arbitration  has  not  met  the 
case  thus  far,  nor  is  there  a  well-grounded  hope  that 
it  ever  will.  And  if  arbitration  be  compulsory,  it  is 
no  whit  better  than  lynch  law.  Meanwhile  let  the  civil 
authorities  attend  to  their  business,  and  the  Gospel  will 
surely  do  the  rest.  The  Man  on  the  well-curb  is 
destined  to  be  the  final  arbitrator.  Nothing  but  the 
Golden  Rule  can  bring  in  the  Golden  Age. 

IV.  Again,  this  Man  at  the  well  was  a  Sufferer, 
"  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief."  The 
lines  of  adversity  were  across  His  brow.  He  was 
familiar  with  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time,  the  proud 
man's  contumely,  and  all  the  ills  that  human  flesh  is 
heir  to.  He  knew  hunger  and  weariness.  He  could 
therefore  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  the  infirmities 
of  His  fellow  men. 

The  key-note  of  His  earthly  Hfe  was  sympathy.  I 
like  to  think  of  Him  as  walking  among  the  couches 


62  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  the  sick,  of  whom  it  is  written,  "  He  healed  them 
every  one."  I  recently  visited  one  of  our  hospitals  on 
dispensary  day.  A  long  line  of  patients  was  waiting 
to  consult  the  physicians  in  attendance — men  and  wo- 
men with  sunken  eyes  and  pale  faces,  the  lame,  the 
halt,  the  withered,  mothers  with  wailing  children  in 
their  arms.  There  were  many  obviously  hopeless  cases 
among  them ;  but  the  Physician  of  Sychar  knew  no 
desperate  cases :  He  asked  no  questions,  and  never 
said,  "  This  serves  you  right."  His  word  was  kind- 
ness ;  His  touch  w^as  power :  "  He  healed  them  every 
one."  And  it  is  pleasant  to  read  that  in  doing  so.  He 
"  touched  them."  He  touched  the  blind,  the  palsied, 
the  leprous.  This  is  the  touch  of  nature's  God  that 
makes  the  whole  world  kin. 

We  have  so  organized  our  charities  that  we  are  in 
constant  danger  of  neglecting  this  healing  touch.  We 
do  good  by  proxy.  We  farm  out  our  philanthropies. 
We  rarely  come  into  contact  with  pain  and  suffering 
as  we  ought  to.  Is  the  age  of  sympathy  gone  by? 
Let  us  by  all  means  send  our  contributions  to  the  as- 
sociated forms  of  benevolence,  but  we  cannot  afford 
to  miss  what  Cowper  calls  "  the  generous  pleasure  of 
a  kindly  deed."  He  who  does  not  for  himself  stretch 
forth  the  helping  hand,  hears  not  the  sweetest  music 
of  earth,  the  suppliant's  ''  I  thank  you,"  nor  fully  knows 
the  heavenly  benediction,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  My  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  Me." 

V.  Once  more,  the  Preacher  of  Sychar  was  a  Sinless 
Man.  At  this  point  He  would  seem  to  part  company 
with  us,  since  He  stood  solitary  and  alone,  the  One 
sinless  in  a  world  of  sinners.     "  For  there  is  no  differ- 


AT   THE    WELLSIDE  63 

ence,  we  have  all  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God."  Or  as  Paul  says,  ''All  are  con-eluded  under 
sin ;  "  that  is,  imprisoned  in  the  same  cell.  But  here  is 
One  who  utters  the  challenge,  "  Who  layeth  anything 
to  My  charge  ? "  And  the  centuries  echo  the  words 
of  one  who  sat  in  judgment  upon  Him,  "  I  find  no 
fault  in  Him  at  all." 

Yet  just  here  He  enters  more  deeply  into  our  fellow- 
ship than  anywhere  else;  since  He  was,  though  inno- 
cent Himself,  by  imputation,  the  bearer  of  the  world's 
sin.  He  was — let  us  say  it  reverently — the  sinner  of 
all  sinners ;  for,  even  as  He  sat  there  on  the  well-curb. 
His  heart  was  bearing  the  awful  burden  which  was 
destined  to  break  it.  "  He  that  knew  no  sin  was  made 
sin  for  us." 

In  entering  upon.  His  work  of  redemption  He  ex- 
changed places  with  us  in  our  relations  to  the  Moral 
Law;  so  that.  He  being  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions and  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  we  might  be  healed 
by  His  stripes.  So  perfect  was  this  vicarious  transfer 
that  He  seemed  to  lose  His  very  personality  in  ours. 
He  exchanged  self-consciousness  with  us ;  so  that, 
passing  under  the  shadow  of  the  olive  trees  in  Geth- 
semane,  He  entered  into  our  experience  of  conviction 
of  sin,  drinking  there  the  purple  cup  as  if  it  were  His 
very  own ;  and  so  that  in  His  stupendous  passion  on 
Cavalry  He  went  forth  as  our  substitute  into  the  outer 
darkness  of  exile  from  God.  Wherefore  there  is  a 
real  truth,  whether  in  the  sense  intended  by  our 
fathers  or  not,  in  the  saying  of  the  historic  creed,  "  He 
descended  into  hell "  for  us. 

It  is,  accordingly,  as  the  great  sin-bearer  that  He 
sits  upon  the  well.     And  the  sinners  of  the  world  pass 


64         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

by :  sinners  of  high  and  low  degree ;  some  wearing 
crowns  and  others  groaning  under  chains ;  the  Sa- 
maritan woman  with  her  unlawful  husbands;  thieves, 
murderers;  all  alike  beating  on  their  breasts  and  cry- 
ing, "What  shall  we  do?"  He  came  to  answer  that 
cry.  He  heard  it  amid  the  glories  of  His  heavenly 
home  and  "  flew  to  our  relief."  He  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  the  lost ;  to  give  Himself  a  ransom  for  many. 
"  This  is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion, that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners." 

He  came  as  the  herald  of  salvation.  A  teacher? 
Yes ;  announcing  in  clearest  terms  all  the  great  truths 
of  the  spiritual  life.  A  philanthropist  ?  Yes ;  having 
compassion  on  the  multitude,  and  offering  Himself  as 
a  help  to  the  poor  and  needy  in  his  distress,  a  refuge 
from  the  storm  and  a  shadow  from  the  heat.  But, 
above  all,  a  Saviour  from  sin.  No  man  has  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Christ  who  has  not  learned  by  heart 
the  lesson  of  His  atoning  death ;  to  wit,  that  His  blood 
cleanseth  from  sin. 

His  great  message  is  that  to  the  woman  who  came 
to  draw  water  from  Jacob's  well :  "  Whosoever  drink- 
eth  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again ;  but  whosoever 
shall  drink  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life."  Water !  Water  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation ! 
Water  for  all  the  famishing  children  of  men !  Water 
from  the  well  beside  the  gate  at  Bethlehem !  Water 
from  "  Siloa's  brook  that  flows  fast  by  the  oracle  of 
God  !  "     Water  of  life  ! 

It  is  recorded  that  when  David  was  under  siege  at 


AT   THE    WELLSIDE  66 

the  Cave  of  AduUam  he  longed  and  said,  "  O  that  one 
would  give  me  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  beside 
the  gate  of  Bethlehem ! "  And  three  of  his  mighty 
men,  overhearing  the  hom.esick  wish,  brake  through  the 
host  of  the  Philistines  and  brought  him  a  cooling 
draught  from  the  old  well.  So  Christ,  with  love  that 
passeth  knowledge  and  courage  invincible,  broke 
through  the  opposing  hosts  of  hell  to  bring  the  living 
water  to  famishing  men. 

The  sermon  of  Sychar  is  over.  The  woman  has 
gone  to  tell  her  townsmen  of  the  wonderful  Man.  His 
disciples  have  returned  with  food,  saying,  ''  Master, 
eat."  He  answers,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know 
not  of,"  adding,  '*  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him 
that  sent  Me  and  to  finish  His  work."  By  this  time 
the  people  of  the  city  are  streaming  through  the  gates 
and  coming  this  way  to  meet  Him.  He  speaks  to  His 
disciples  :  "  Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet  four  months  and 
then  Cometh  the  harvest?  Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look 
on  the  fields ;  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest !  " 
The  multitudes  are  coming  to  hear  the  message. 
Thrust  in  your  sickles  and  reap !  Go  preach !  Give 
the  people  the  water  of  life ! 

All  this  was  long  ago.  He  rose  from  the  well-curb 
and  went  His  way.  In  due  time  He  passed  through 
the  heavens  to  reassume  "  the  glory  which  He  had  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  was."  Yet,  amid  the  splen- 
dours of  heaven  He  remains  the  same, — the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day  and  forever.  As  He  sat  upon  the  well, 
so  He  sits  upon  His  throne :  His  hands  outstretched  in 
overtures  of  mercy.  His  heart  beating  with  sympathy 
for  toiling,  suffering,  sinning  men.  He  lifts  His 
pierced  hands :   He  speaks ;  and  heaven  and  earth  are 


66  CHRIST    AND   PROGRESS 

full  of  His  voice :  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say. 
Come !  And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come !  And 
let  him  that  is  athirst  come;  and  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 


VI 

STILL  WORKING  WONDERS 

IT  is  sometimes  an  occasion  of  surprise  that  tHe 
Jews  were  so  clamorous  for  a  sign.  "  Show  us  a 
sign,"  they  were  ever  saying,  ''  and  we  will  be- 
lieve." Yet  this  was  not  so  unreasonable  as  might 
appear.  They  had  been  looking  for  a  Messiah  for 
some  thousands  of  years  and  had  been  deceived  again 
and  again.  One  Christ  after  another  had  led  them  out 
into  the  wilderness  of  futile  hope ;  and  now  came  this 
Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground, 
with  no  form  of  comeliness  that  they  should  desire 
Him.  Was  it  strange  that  they  demanded  His  cre- 
dentials? Appearances  were  greatly  against  Him. 
He  was  not  at  all  such  a  Messiah  as  they  had  expected 
to  see.  In  their  Roman  vassalage  they  looked  for  "  one 
like  unto  Moses,"  who  with  a  voice  of  command  and 
supernatural  tokens  of  divine  authority  should  cry, 
"  Let  my  people  go  1 "  Was  not  their  insistence,  then, 
most  natural  ?  And,  for  that  matter,  is  it  not  common 
to  every  age? 

We  walk  at  high  noon,  and  the  bells 
Call  to  a  thousand  oracles; 
But  the  sound  deafens,  and  the  light 
Is  stronger  than  our  dazzled  sight; 
The  letters  of  the  sacred  Book 
Glimmer  and  swim  beneath  our  lookj 
Still  struggles  in  the  Age's  breast 
With  deepening  agony  of  quest 
The  old  entreaty:  "Art  thou  He, 
Or  look  we  for  the  Christ  to  be?" 
67 


68  CHRIST  AND   PROGRESS 

I.  The  frequency  of  our  Lord's  miracles  shows  that 
Jesus  Himself  did  not  regard  the  demand  of  the  Jews 
as  wholly  unreasonable. 

Signs  they  called  for  and  signs  were  forthcoming  all 
along  the  way.  We  are  given  to  understand  that  the 
miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels  are  but  a  small  pro- 
portion of  those  which  were  actually  wrought  during 
the  ministry  of  Jesus.  These  miracles  were  of  three 
khids : 

First :   such  as  demonstrated  His  power  over  nature. 

He  looked  at  the  fig-tree  and  it  withered.  He  walked 
upon  the  sea.  He  spoke  to  the  stormy  billows,  and, 
like  naughty  children,  they  sobbed  themselves  to  sleep. 
In  presence  of  the  hungry  multitude  He  called  for  five 
loaves ;  "  'Twas  spring-time  when  He  blessed  the  bread 
and  harvest  when  He  brake."  At  the  supper  in  Cana, 
when  the  supply  of  wine  gave  out,  He  bade  the  at- 
tendants fill  the  waterpots ;  whereupon  "  the  conscious 
water,  touched  by  power  divine,  confessed  its  Lord  and 
blushed  itself  to  v/ine."  Thus,  over  and  over  again,  He 
showed  Himself  the  absolute  sovereign  of  nature. 

Second :   He  had  power  over  disease. 

The  sick  v/ere  brought  in  couches  and  laid  along  the 
way ;  and  *'  He  healed  them  every  one."  He  never 
laid  His  cunning  fingers  on  blind  eyes  in  vain.  He 
never  failed  to  heal  the  leper  with  a  word,  "  Be  clean !  " 
Wounds,  fevers,  hemorrhages  yielded  to  His  touch. 
'*  Where'er  He  went  affliction  fled  and  sickness  raised 
her  drooping  head."  The  hem  of  His  garment  had 
healing  virtue  in  it.  At  His  command  paralytics  stood 
upon  their  feet ;  and  demoniacs  sat  before  Him  clothed 
and  in  their  right  mind.  At  the  open  grave  He  cried, 
"  Come  forth !  "  and  the  sheeted  dead  came  groping  to 
the  light. 


STILL    WORKING    WONDERS       69 

Third :  He  manifested  a  singular  power  over  the 
souls  of  men. 

As  He  passed  through  the  gate  of  Capernaum  He 
said  to  Matthew  sitting-  at  the  receipt  of  customs, 
"Follow  Me;"  and  without  hesitation  or  demur  the 
man  rose  up  and  followed  Him.  As  He  walked  by  the 
lakeshore  He  addressed  the  same  words  to  a  group  of 
fishermen  who  were  mending  their  nets  and  straight- 
way they  followed  Him  as  if  drawn  by  invisible 
cords. 

It  is  common,  in  some  quarters  where  the  super- 
natural is  set  at  nought,  to  attribute  this  extraordinary 
power  of  Jesus  to  some  occult  influence,  such  as  hyp- 
notism. In  any  case,  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
Him  seemed  to  fall  under  its  spell.  He  overawed  the 
multitude  so  that  they  "  heard  Him  gladly,"  hanging 
on  His  lips.  He  overawed  the  detachment  of  temple- 
police  who  were  sent  to  seize  Him  as  He  taught  in 
Solomon's  Porch,  so  that  they  returned  without  their 
prisoner,  saying,  **'  Never  man  spake  like  this  Man !  '* 
He  overawed  the  passover  pilgrims  on  their  way  to 
Jerusalem,  so  that  they  fell  in  line  with  His  disciples 
and,  casting  their  garments  in  the  way  and  waving 
palm-branches,  cried  '*  Hosanna !  hosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David !  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord !  "  He  overawed  His  most  influential  ene- 
mies so  that  for  three  eventful  years  He  walked  among 
them  unscathed  while  denouncing  their  most  cherished 
customs  and  traditions.  He  overawed  the  mob  that 
came  into  Gethsemane  to  seize  Him,  so  that  they  fell 
backward  as  dead  men.  He  overawed  the  daughters 
of  Jerusalem,  so  that  they  followed  Him  along  Via 
Dolorosa  weeping  and  wailing  and  beating  upon  their 
breasts.     He  overawed  the  traitor  who  sold  Him  for 


70  CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

thirty  pieces  o£  silver,  so  that  He  returned  to  the  hall 
Gazith  and  cast  the  blood-stained  pieces  of  silver  upon 
the  marble  floor  crying,  "  I  have  betrayed  innocent 
blood !  "  He  overawed  the  judge  who  sentenced  Him 
to  death,  so  that  placing  him  at  Gabbatha  he  confessed 
before  the  people,  "  Behold  the  Man !  I  find  no  fault 
in  Him  at  all."  He  overawed  the  officer  in  charge  of 
His  execution,  so  that  looking  on  His  dying  victim  he 
was  moved  to  cry,  "  Verily,  this  was  the  Son  of  God." 

All  these  miracles  are  distinctly  of  evidential  value. 
They  were  intended  to  show,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ;  as  He  Himself  said,  in  answer  to 
the  inquiry  of  John  the  Baptist :  ''  Go  tell  John  what 
things  ye  have  seen  and  heard ;  how  that  the  blind  see, 
the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear, 
the  dead  are  raised,  to  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached." 

And  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  intended  to  show 
that  Jesus,  as  the  Messiah,  is  able  to  save  from  sin. 
This  was  indeed  their  superlative  value.  It  was  a  mat- 
ter of  small  moment  that  a  few  blind  men  should  be 
made  to  see,  a  few  lepers  cleansed,  a  few  paralytics 
restored  to  vigour,  in  a  world  full  of  blind,  leprous  and 
palsied  men :  but  in  healing  them  our  Lord  showed 
that  He  had  power  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  soul  to 
spiritual  verities,  to  wash  away  moral  uncleanness  and, 
restore  the  normal  health  and  vigour  of  the  immortal 
man.  On  one  occasion,  at  Capernaum,  He  said  to  a 
paralytic,  "  Be  of  good  cheer ;  thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee ; "  and  when  certain  of  His  adversaries  caviled 
He  answered  them,  "  Whether  is  easier  to  say,  Thy 
sins  be  forgiven  thee;  or  to  say,  Rise  up  and  walk? 
But  that  ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  power 
upon  earth  to  forgive  sins,  (He  saith  unto  the  sick  of 


STILL  WORKING   WONDERS      71 

the  palsy)  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  go  to  thy  house." 
And  he  arose  and  went  his  way. 

II.  But  the  objector  says,  these  miracles  were 
wrought  centuries  ago,  and  whatever  of  evidential 
power  they  may  have  had,  under  the  circumstances, 
upon  the  Oriental  mind,  they  have  little  or  no  such 
power  in  these  days.  This  is  not  conceded;  but,  for 
the  sake  of  the  argument,  let  it  pass,  while  we  turn  to 
certain  other  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  three  in  particu- 
lar, which  are  of  permanent  value. 

First :    His  Incarnation. 

In  one  of  the  familiar  pictures  of  the  Nativity  a  group 
of  peasants  are  represented  as  standing  on  tiptoe,  gap- 
ing in  at  the  doorway  of  the  cave.  This  is  indeed  the 
attitude  of  all  ages  and  generations  in  view  of  that 
great  "  mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh."  The  world  stands  on  tiptoe,  wondering.  What 
is  to  be  seen  ?  Only  a  sleeping  child,  one  hand  resting 
on  its  mother's  breast.  What  is  weaker  than  a  baby's 
hand  ?  Yet  this  hand  of  the  Christ-child,  apparently  so 
powerless,  is  destined  to  shake  the  pillars  of  earth's 
thrones  and  dynasties,  to  control  the  fortunes  of  em- 
pire as  Samson  unhinged  and  bore  away  the  gates  of 
Gaza,  to  turn  aside  the  currents  of  universal  history ! 

Who  is  this?  Who  is  this  that  for  nineteen  cen- 
turies has  stood  at  the  centre  of  every  controversy 
concerning  the  welfare  of  nations  and  the  children  of 
men?  The  mighties  come  and  go;  He  only  is  the 
abiding  One.  What  think  ye  of  this  Jesus?  Is  He 
God  only?  Nay,  touch  Him  and  see.  Is  He  man 
only?  Then  account  for  these  tokens  of  the  super- 
natural. Ecce  Homo!  He  stands  at  Gabbatha  per- 
petually asking,  "  Who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  " 


72  CHRIST  AND   PROGRESS 

Second:   The  Atonement. 

The  death  of  Jesus  was  no  less  wonderful  than  His 
birth.  His  was  the  singular  death;  not  only  in  view 
of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  which  accompanied 
it,  such  as  the  quaking  of  the  earth  and  darkening  of 
the  skies,  but  particularly  by  reason  of  the  stupendous 
influences  which  have  proceeded  from  it.  A  sinless  man 
dies  as  a  malefactor;  the  heart  of  the  only  Innocent 
One  is  breaking  under  the  burden  of  the  world's  sin. 
For  some  reason,  while  other  tragedies  are  forgotten, 
this  never  ceases  to  sway  the  minds  of  men.  Not  long 
ago  the  Queen  of  Belgium  died ;  her  last  words  being, 
"  My  people  no  longer  remember  me ;  it  is  time  to  go." 
Thus  the  mightiest  pass  into  oblivion.  But  the  death 
of  Jesus  is  commemorated  by  hundreds  of  millions  of 
people  who  sit  around  a  humble  feast  of  bread  and 
wine,  saying  among  themselves,  "  He  died  for  me !  '* 
If  this  vicarious  or  substitutionary  thought,  which  is 
the  only  miraculous  factor  in  the  Atonement,  be  elim- 
inated, how  shall  we  account  for  it?  And  what  did 
the  infidel  Rousseau  mean  when  he  said,  "  If  Socrates 
died  like  a  philosopher,  Jesus  died  like  a  god?  " 

The  symbol  of  this  wonderful  death  is  the  cross. 
It  gleams  on  the  spires  of  innumerable  churches,  hangs 
as  an  amulet  on  the  bosom  of  believers,  is  worn  on  the 
arms  of  crusaders  as  they  go  forth  to  conquest,  and  is 
carved  on  the  gravestones  of  the  sainted  dead.  Is  the 
world  still  clamouring  for  a  sign  ?  The  legend,  In  this 
sign  conquer,  which  Constantine  professed  to  have  seen 
among  the  stars  beneath  the  symbol  of  the  cross,  on 
the  morning  of  the  battle  of  Saxa  Rubra,  has  been 
written  across  the  skies  of  history  unto  this  day.  This 
is  the  conquering  sign  which  is  destined  to  bring  the 
world  back  to  God. 


STILL   WORKING   WONDERS      73 

Third :  The  Resurrection  of  Christ. 

Now  abide  these  three  miracles :  the  Incarnation, 
the  Atonement  and  the  Resurrection,  but  the  greatest 
of  these  is  the  Resurrection  because  it  sets  the  seal  upon 
all.  It  is  the  crowning  of  Messiah.  He  Himself  ad- 
ventured the  integrity  of  His  Messianic  claims  and  the 
success  of  His  redemptive  work  upon  His  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  '*  I  will  show  you  no  sign,"  He  said 
to  His  clamouring  critics,  "  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet 
Jonas ;  "  three  days  in  the  belly  of  hell,  and  then  Ufe 
and  immortality.  Roll  the  stone  against  the  grave; 
affix  the  inviolable  seal  of  Rome ;  set  the  armed  guard 
to  watch  it.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh!  He  breaks  the  bands  of  death  and  takes  cap- 
tivity captive.  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory?  Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giv- 
eth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ! 

We  speak  of  this  Resurrection  as  a  demonstrated 
fact.  If  there  are  those  who  question  it,  let  them  recall 
the  unchallenged  statement  of  Paul  that  there  were 
some  hundreds  of  witnesses  living  in  his  time  who  had 
looked  upon  the  risen  Christ.  And  if  they  are  still  dis- 
posed to  doubt,  let  them  consult  Blackstone,  the  ac- 
knowledged authority  as  to  Rules  of  Evidence,  who 
says,  "  No  event  in  history  is  more  amply  substantiated 
by  competent  testimony  than  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ."  It  is  granted  that  to  overthrow  the  validity 
of  this  miracle  would  be  to  destroy  the  religion  of 
Christ,  as  it  is  written,  *'  If  Christ  be  not  risen,  your 
faith  is  vain,  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins." 

And,  by  the  same  token,  we  insist  that  if  this  miracle 
be  not  overthrown  the  religion  of  Christ  is  a  trium- 
phant fact,  so  firmly  established  that  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it. 


74  CHRIST  AND   PROGRESS 

III.  But  the  objector  again  says,  "  These  are  ancien't 
history.  You  are  still  speaking  of  miracles  that  belong 
to  the  past.  Show  us  something  up  to  date.  Very 
well :  let  us  turn  to  three  cumulative  miracles,  com- 
mon to  all  centuries,  occurring  under  our  eyes  and  in- 
creasing in  evidential  value  with  every  passing  day. 

First :   Regeneration ;  that  is,  the  rebirth  of  the  soul. 

This  is  the  perpetual  mystery  of  common  life.  Our 
Lord  speaks  of  it  as  an  "  earthly  thing  "  (John  iii  :i2), 
because  it  takes  place  within  the  observation  of  every 
man. 

One  morning  Saul  of  Tarsus  rides  through  the  gate- 
way of  Jerusalem  breathing  out  slaughter  against  the 
followers  of  Christ.  At  evening,  some  days  later,  he 
enters  the  gate  of  Damascus,  led  by  the  hand,  blind, 
humbled,  transformed  into  a  follower  of  Christ.  Ex- 
plain that  on  natural  grounds,  if  you  can. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  Gilbert  West 
and  Lord  Lyttleton,  leaders  among  the  learned  infidels 
of  that  controversial  age,  came  together  to  plan  an 
assault  upon  Christianity.  Each  promised  to  prepare 
an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  attack  on  what  he  regarded 
as  the  most  momentous  and  salient  event  of  the  Gospel 
record.  West  decided  on  the  Resurrection  of  Christ; 
Lord  Lyttleton  on  the  Conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus. 
A  year  later  they  came  together  to  compare  notes.  The 
former  said,  "  My  essay  is  finished ;  but  I  have  arrived 
at  a  different  conclusion  from  what  I  had  anticipated. 
After  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  evidence  in  the 
case,  I  am  forced  to  believe  that  Jesus,  who  was  buried 
in  Joseph's  garden,  did  come  forth  from  the  sepulchre, 
and  that  He  thus  proved  Himself  to  be  the  very  Son 
of  God."    The  latter  said :  ''  I  am  bound  to  admit  that 


STILL    WORKING   WONDERS      75 

my  researches  have  brought  me  to  a  similar  conclusion. 
The  evidence  shows  that  Saul  of  Tarsus  met  with  an 
extraordinary  change  in  his  way  down  to  Damascus, 
that  he  saw  the  living  Christ  and  that  this  Christ  was 
the  very  Son  of  God." 

But  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  is  in  no  wise  different 
from  that  of  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  who  have 
passed  through  the  same  transformation;  for  every 
converted  sinner  is  "  a  miracle  of  grace."  Here  is  a 
man  taken  out  of  the  gutter  and  brought  into  vital 
contact  with  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  his  whole  character 
is  changed ;  he  is  "  a  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus ; "  new 
heart,  new  conscience,  new  will.  "  Old  things  are 
passed  away;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new." 
The  outcast  has  become  a  kind  father,  a  reputable 
citizen,  a  good  neighbour  and  brother  to  every  man. 
In  all  the  transformations  of  Ovid  there  is  nothing  to 
compare  with  this.     How  shall  we  account  for  it? 

Second :  The  Church. 

By  all  the  laws  that  control  the  natural  struggle  for 
life  the  Christian  Church  should  have  died  centuries 
ago.  This  was  recognized  by  Napoleon ;  who,  having 
been  challenged  by  one  of  his  marshals  to  furnish  an 
instance  of  a  modern  miracle,  answered,  "  The  Church 
of  God." 

It  began  with  a  nucleus  of  eleven  humble  men,  with 
the  Carpenter  in  the  midst.  From  the  very  outset  it 
was  exposed  to  the  persecution  of  the  powers  that  be. 
Unsheathe  the  sword  !  Kindle  the  fagots  !  "  The  Lord 
shall  have  them  in  derision."  He  speaks  :  "  Fear  not 
little  flock ;  it  is  your  Father's  pleasure  to  give  you  the 
kingdom."  Wait  a  while  and  you  shall  see  this  little 
group  multiplied  an  hundred  fold.     Its  ranks  are  in- 


76  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

creased  by  thousands,  millions,  hundreds  of  millions! 
There  are  fears  within,  there  are  fightings  without; 
but  on  they  go  with  their  red  cross  banner,  singing, 
"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name !  "  They  cross  the 
plains  and  scale  the  mountains,  making  prisoners  of 
hope.  Behold  the  captives  coming  in,  as  doves  that 
fly  to  their  windows !  The  dromedaries  of  Midian, 
the  rams  of  Nebaioth,  the  ships  of  Tarshish  are  coming 
this  way !  The  Church  is  immortal,  invincible.  It 
lives,  flourishes,  enlarges  its  borders.  The  kings  of 
the  earth  bring  their  glory  and  their  honour  into  it. 
Thrones  totter  and  fall ;  dynasties  come  and  go ;  but 
the  Church,  the  great  miracle,  abides.  *'  God  is  in 
the  midst  of  her;  she  shall  not  be  moved."  How 
otherwise  shall  we  account  for  it? 

O,  where  are  kings  and  empires  now 

Of  old  that  went  and  came? 

But  Lord,  Thy  Church  is  standing  yet, 

A  thousand  years  the  same. 

Unshaken  as  the  eternal  hills, 

Immovable   she   stands, 

A  mountain  that  shall  fill  the  earth, 

A  house  not  made  by  hands. 

Third :   Christendom. 

Take  a  map  of  the  world  and  draw  a  line  around 
the  nations  that  have  been  under  the  influence  of  the 
Gospel.  You  have  fenced  in  light,  learning,  enterprise, 
political  and  ecclesiastical  freedom,  domestic  peace  and 
comfort,  art,  science,  philosophy,  humanity,  culture, 
character  and  hope.  All  without  is  barbarism;  there 
are  the  regions  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death. 
Is  this  a  mere  coincidence? 


STILL    WORKING    WONDERS       77 

And  the  circle  which  you  have  drawn  is  an  ever  ex- 
panding circle.  Its  centre  was  an  insignificant  spot 
in  a  remote  corner  of  the  earth.  Thence  it  threw  its 
lines  of  influence  around  the  Mediterranean ;  then  Asia 
came  in,  and  Northern  Africa,  and  Britain  and  the 
Islands  of  the  Sea.  ''  Expansion  "  has  ever  been  the 
watchword  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Bring  in  China, 
bring  in  India,  bring  in  Korea,  the  hermit  empire  of 
the  East.  And  still  the  royal  standards  onward  go. 
The  stakes  of  the  tabernacle  are  being  driven  further 
and  further  out,  its  cords  lengthened,  its  curtains 
stretched.  And,  so  far  as  we  may  draw  conclusions 
from  the  analogy  of  the  past,  this  process  will  continue 
until  the  triumphing  Gospel  of  Jesus  shall  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

What  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ?  "  In  an  age  on 
ages  telling,  to  be  living  is  sublime."  Ours  is  the  age 
of  light,  the  age  of  evidence,  the  age  of  multiplying 
miracles,  the  age  of  high  privilege  and  of  correspond- 
ing responsibility.  Let  us  remember  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  how  He  said,  "  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin ! 
Woe  unto  thee  Bethsaida!  for  if  the  mighty  works 
which  were  done  in  you  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes."  The  argument  of  the  ages  con- 
verges upon  us.  We  stand  under  the  shadow  of  a 
great  mountain  of  evidence.  How  shall  we  escape  if 
we  refuse  to  believe?  He  who  rejects  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  in  these  days  must  blind  himself  to  the  philos- 
ophy of  history  and  to  the  logic  of  events.  He  must 
resist  the  hearing  of  his  ears  and  the  sight  of  his  eyes. 


TWO  UNCHANGEABLE  BOOKS 


All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 

Whose  body  nature  is,  and  God  the  soul; 

That,  chang'd  thro'  all,  and  yet  in  all  the  same; 

Great  in  the  earth,  as  in  th'ethereal  frame; 

Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 

Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees. 

Lives  thro'  all  life,  extends  thro'  all  extent, 

Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent; 

Breathes  in  our  soul,  informs  our  mortal  part. 

As  full,  as  perfect,  in  a  hair  as  heart; 

As  full,  as  perfect,  in  vile  IMan  that  mourns, 

As  the  rapt  Seraph  that  adores  and  burns; 

To  Him  no  high,  no  low,  no  great,  no  small; 

He  fills,  He  bounds,  connects,  and  equals  all. 

Pope 


VII 

THE  BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF, 
WHAT  THEN  ? 

WE  are  not  infrequently  asked  by  people  who 
are  engaged  in  undermining  the  founda- 
tions of  Scriptural  authority,  whether  we 
regard  our  religion  as  ''  the  religion  of  a  book  ?  "  Yes ; 
more  than  that,  it  is  the  religion  of  two  books,  Nature 
and  Revelation.  In  the  recent  controversy  between 
Professor  Delitsch  and  Kaiser  Wilhelm  as  to  the  ulti- 
mate authority  in  religion,  both  were  right  and  both 
were  wrong.  Professor  Delitsch  was  right  in  assert- 
ing the  absolute  truth  of  science  and  wrong  in  with- 
holding a  like  honour  from  the  Scriptures.  And  the 
Emperor  was  right  in  asserting  the  ultimate  truth  of 
Scripture  in  spiritual  matters  and  wholly  wrong  in 
intimating  that  there  may  be  any  discrepancy  between 
the  Light  of  Nature  and  the  Word  of  God. 

We  are  bound  to  insist  that  science — not  that  quasi 
science  which  is  a  mere  framework  of  guesses  and  no7i 
sequiturs,  but  that  genuine  science  which  is  founded  on 
irrefutable  facts — is  absolutely  true  as  far  as  it  goes. 
But  we  are  bound  also  to  insist  that  it  does  not  and 
cannot  go  far  enough  to  satisfy  our  deepest  needs. 
The  Light  of  Nature  must  be  supplemented  by  revela- 
tion, since  science  properly  so-called  pauses  at  the  outer 
borders  of  spiritual  truth.  So  David,  having  cele- 
brated the  Light  of  Nature  in  the  antiphony,  "  The 

81 


82  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament 
showeth  His  handiwork,"  goes  on  straightway  to  sing 
the  praises  of  that  other  Book,  which  "  converteth  the 
sonl,  maketh  wise  the  simple,  rejoiceth  the  heart,  en- 
lighteneth  the  eyes  and  endureth  forever." 

The  tendency  of  our  time  is  to  renomice  the  jurid- 
ical authority  of  the  Scriptures  and  fall  back  on 
science.  The  thing  which  occurred  on  a  certain  De- 
cember day,  in  the  palace  of  Jehoiakim,  is  being  re- 
peated over  and  over.  Baruch  had  been  summoned  to 
read  the  fateful  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  in  the  presence 
of  the  Court.  As  he  proceeded,  the  king  was  more 
and  more  offended  by  the  frankness  of  the  Book.  "  I 
like  not  that,"  he  said  to  his  courtier,  Jehudi ;  "  cut 
it  out !  "  And  again,  "  I  like  not  that ;  cut  it  out !  " 
And  so  on,  until  the  penknife  had  cruelly  mutilated 
the  scroll.  At  length,  losing  all  patience  with  the  faith- 
ful message,  the  king  cried,  "  Cast  it  into  the  fire !  " 
A  brazier  was  burning  near  by;  the  parchment  was 
thrown  in  and  burned  up.  Was  Jehoiakim  relieved? 
No  doubt.  The  book  was  gone,  but  alas,  its  woes  re- 
mained and  the  doom  of  the  nation  hastened  on ! 

We  have  the  Bible.  W^e  call  it  our  "  infallible  rule 
of  faith  and  practice."  But  the  penknife  of  destruc- 
tive criticism  is  at  work  upon  it.  A  considerable  por- 
tion which  has  passed  under  review  is  thrown  out  be- 
cause it  does  not  comport  wuth  the  prejudgments  of 
so-called  "  Biblical  experts."  So  far  as  the  radical 
scholars  of  Germany  and  Oxford  are  concerned,  the 
Scriptures  are  substantially  burned  up.  It  is  not  my 
purpose,  however,  to  enter  into  the  current  contro- 
versy. There  is  a  party  to  this  controversy  which  has 
not  been  recognized  thus  far ;  a  party  of  outsiders  who 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?  83 

stand  rubbing  their  hands  and  crying,  Aha !  aha !  while 
the  Book  of  the  Law  is  being  mutilated  and  destroyed. 

Is  it  not  a  curious  thing  that  all  unbelievers  of  every 
sort  should  be  on  one  side  of  this  discussion?  There 
is  not  an  infidel  circle  in  the  world  which  does  not  re- 
joice at  the  suggestion  that  the  Bible  is  not  true.  The 
work  of  destructive  criticism  commends  itself  to  all 
"  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort."  All  dramsellers  and 
gamblers  and  disreputables  are  glad  to  be  assured  that 
inroads  are  being  made  upon  the  trustworthiness  of 
Holy  Writ.  Why  should  the  ungodly  hate  the  Bible 
so?  Why  should  they  make  merry  at  the  thought  of 
having  it  put  away  ?  Because  "  the  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God." 

It  will  be  worth  while  to  inquire,  however,  wherein 
the  ungodly  would  be  bettered  if  the  Bible  were  burned 
up.  Let  us  suppose  that  all  the  present  assaults  upon 
the  veracity  of  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  successful. 
What  then  ?  Were  the  Bible  proved  to  be  wholly  un- 
worthy of  confidence,  were  it  shown  to  be  dotted  every- 
where with  error  as  thickly  as  a  leper  with  his  loath- 
some scales,  what  advantage  would  it  be  to  godless 
men? 

I.  God  would  still  remain. 

The  Bible  does  not  make  God.  It  does  not  even 
demonstrate  His  being.  It  assumes  Him.  Its  open- 
ing words  are,  "  In  the  beginning,  God." 

It  takes  God  for  granted  because  the  Light  of  Nature 
reveals  Him.  The  simplest  argument  in  the  world  is 
that  which  phrases  itself  thus :  Design  necessitates  the 
thought  of  a  Designer.  Were  I  to  say  that  John  Mil- 
ton made  "  Paradise  Lost "  by  jumbling  letters  in  a 
bag  and  tossing  them  forth,  all  reasonable  men  would 


84  CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

laugh  at  me ;  but  this  would  be  no  more  preposterous 
than  the  allegation  that  our  universe  is  "  a  fortuitous 
concourse  of  atoms." 

The  human  mind  is  so  framed  that  it  demands  a 
rational  solution  of  phenomena.  We  see  a  ship  under 
sail  and  raise  the  inquiry,  What  keeps  her  steadfast 
in  her  course  ?  It  is  not  enough  to  answer,  "  The 
chart ; "  for  there  is  something  back  of  the  chart. 
"  The  rudder,  then  ?  "  Nay ;  there  is  something  back 
of  the  rudder.  "  The  wheel  ?  "  Nay ;  the  argument 
cannot  close  until  we  have  found  the  man  at  the  wheel. 
This  is  the  mental  process  not  of  scientists,  nor  of  phil- 
osophers, but  of  the  average  man. 

Not  long  ago  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  a 
devotee  of  chess,  determined  to  solve  if  possible  the 
mystery  of  "  the  automatic  chess-player."  Day  after 
day  he  engaged  in  the  game  with  this  alleged  autom- 
aton, and  rose  always  with  the  conviction  that  there 
was  an  exhibition  of  something  more  than  a  mechan- 
ical agency.  But  he  could  discover  no  visible  token  of 
it.  The  mystery  was  solved  at  length,  however,  when 
from  behind  a  curtain  a  man  appeared,  known  to  him 
as  an  expert  chess-player,  who  laughingly  said,  "  You 
deserve  to  be  undeceived,"  and  proceeded  to  explain  it. 
A  like  denouement  awaits  the  earnest  seeker  after  God. 

The  human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  cannot 
accept  an  effect  without  a  cause,  design  without  a  de- 
signer, or  law  without  a  lawgiver.  We  say,  "  The 
stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera ; "  but  we 
know  very  well  that  the  stars  fight  not  unless  there  is 
a  captain  to  marshal  them  and  lead  them  to  the  fray. 
Wherefore,  Scripture  or  no  Scripture,  we  are  driven 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  God. 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?  85 

But  while  the  Light  of  Nature  reveals  so  much,  it 
fails  wholly  to  show  our  filial  relations  with  God.  All 
men  are  theists,  but  all  men  cannot  say  "Abba,  Father." 
The  name  of  the  Deity  is  written  across  the  sky  and 
in  the  legends  of  the  hills ;  but  we  must  turn  to  the 
Oracles  if  we  would  read  His  name  ''  in  fairer  lines." 
The  people  who  dwelt  at  the  foot  of  Mont  Pelee  were 
wont  to  speak  in  bated  breath  of  the  impersonal  mon- 
ster which,  from  its  hoarse  throat,  uttered  perpetual 
threats  of  disaster;  but  in  vain  would  they  hearken 
beneath  the  shadow  of  the  mountain  for  any  message 
of  love. 

In  one  of  Ruskin's  essays  he  speaks  of  ''  the  pa- 
thetic fallacy  of  hoping  to  find  in  Nature  any  intima- 
tion of  divine  sympathy  with  our  joys  and  sorrows." 
A  pathetic  fallacy,  indeed.  And  the  more  we  contem- 
plate this  pathetic  fallacy  the  more  inevitably  are  we 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  unless  we  are  to  abide  in 
perpetual  uncertainty,  the  Light  of  Nature  must  be 
supplemented  by  the  Word  of  God. 

It  is  of  immense  importance  to  a  man,  living  or 
dying,  whether  God  is  his  Father  or  not.  It  deter- 
mines the  motive  with  which  he  formulates  his  plans 
and  purposes,  proceeds  to  every  task  and  undergoes 
the  trials  of  life.  And  the  equanimity  with  which  he 
faces  death  depends  upon  it.  The  freethinker  Goethe 
in  his  last  moments  reached  forth  his  hands  like  one 
groping  in  the  dark,  and  cried,  "  Light !  more  light !  " 
But  Wesley,  dying  with  his  Bible  by  his  side,  raised 
his  hands  heavenward,  saying,  "  The  best  of  all  is 
Immanuel,  God  with  us  !  " 

11.  If  the  Bible  were  destroyed  and  we  were  left 
to  the  Light  of  Nature,  we  should  still  retain  our  sense 
of  duty. 


86  CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

The  word  means  something  due  or  owed.  This 
sense  of  dueness  or  obligation,  which  is  expressed  in 
the  great  word  "  ought,"  does  not  depend  on  Scrip- 
ture, but  is  native  to  the  human  soul. 

The  recent  excavations  on  the  site  of  ancient  Baby- 
lon have  given  rise  to  prolonged  controversy  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  Decalogue  existed  prior  to  the  giv- 
ing of  the  Sinaitic  Law.  The  slight  resemblances  of 
the  inscriptions  to  the  Ten  Commandments  are  suffi- 
cient to  corroborate  the  statement  that  the  Bible  did 
not  originate  the  Moral  Law.  But  whoever  supposed 
that  it  did?  One  of  the  singular  glories  of  the  Scrip- 
tures is  that  they  formulate  a  generic  intuition  and 
carry  it  on  to  certain  logical  and  practical  conclusions. 

The  precepts  of  the  Decalogue  were  written  in  the 
human  constitution  before  they  were  inscribed  on  tables 
of  stone.  They  are  interwoven  with  our  very  nerves 
and  sinews.  In  like  manner  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
which  is  merely  a  broad  and  comprehensive  exposition 
of  the  Decalogue,  was  not  original  with  Christ;  in 
that  it  stated  nothing  new  or  extraordinary,  but  only 
what  men  should  have  been  able  to  recognize  without 
it.  The  First  Chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
was  written  to  show  that  the  ethical  system  of  the 
Bible  is  simply  an  authoritative  statement  of  certain 
laws  which  are  incorporated  in  the  being  of  the  race. 

But  while  the  Light  of  Nature  emphasizes  the  ethical 
fact,  it  does  not  place  the  seal  of  divine  authority  upon 
it.  Here  arc  anonymous  precepts ;  but  no  divine 
imprimatur.  Here  are  moral  distinctions ;  but  no 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord !  "  Here  is  an  inward  voice ; 
but  no  manifesto  from  the  throne. 

If  it  be  asked,  Is  not  this  enough?     Let  Paul  an- 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?  87 

swer,  ''  Yes ;  for  those  who  have  nothing  more  or  bet- 
ter. For  when  the  nations  which  have  not  the  law,  do 
by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law,  these  having 
not  the  law  are  a  law  unto  themselves;  which  show 
the  work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts  "  (Rom.  ii : 
14).  But  how  much  brighter  the  light  and  how  much 
greater  the  privilege  of  those  who  hear  the  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord !  "  There  was  a  time  when  the  people 
of  America  had  no  circulating  medium  but  belts  of 
wampum ;  but  all  will  probably  agree  that  we  are  more 
fortunate  in  having  coin  of  the  realm,  bearing  "  the 
image  and  superscription  of  the  king." 

Another  thing  which  the  Light  of  Nature  cannot 
furnish  is  the  portrait  of  the  Ideal  Man. 

We  should  struggle  in  the  ranks  of  noble  effort,  but 
our  Captain  would  be  gone.  In  all  the  world  there 
would  be  no  living  exemplification  of  duty,  no  perfect 
Man,  no  Christ  to  stand  on  the  heights  above,  inspir- 
ing, beckoning,  calling,  "  Follow  Me  !  "  And  without 
Christ  the  thought  of  perfection  would  be  mere  fancy ; 
He  is  the  only  dikaios.  We  should  philosophize  about 
virtue  and  manhood  and  character,  but  never  see  an 
exemplification  of  it.  Thus  it  is  written,  "  The  whole 
world  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now,  waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God." 
This  longing  is,  without  Christ,  unsatisfied.  God  still 
looketh  down  from  heaven  to  see,  and  behold !  there  is 
none  that  doeth  righteousness,  no,  not  one. 

HI.  If  the  Bible  were  destroyed,  sin  would  still 
remain. 

The  Scripture  did  not  make  man,  nor  did  it  turn 
him  aside  from  the  path  of  righteousness;  it  merely 
takes  him  as  it  finds  him.     Sin  would  remain  as  a  con- 


88         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

cept;  and  as  a  concrete  fact,  the  sole  blemish  on  the 
otherwise  fair  face  of  human  life  and  character;  and 
as  a  personal  conviction.  Our  consciences  would  still 
"  make  cowards  of  us  all." 

When  Professor  Webster  was  lying  in  prison  await- 
ing his  execution,  he  made  formal  complaint  that  he 
was  affronted  by  his  keepers,  who  shouted  at  him, 
"  O,  you  bloody  man !  "  and  by  his  fellow-prisoners, 
who  pounded  on  the  walls  of  his  cell,  shouting,  "  O, 
you  bloody  man  !  "  A  watch  was  set,  but  no  voice  was 
heard;  it  was  his  guilty  conscience  that  cried  out 
against  him.  It  is  the  voice  of  conscience  that  drives 
the  pagan  nations  to  their  knees  and  kindles  the  fires 
beneath  their  altars.  No  heavenly  voice  is  needed  to 
convince  us  that  we  have  sinned  and  that  sin  carries 
with  it  a  death-sentence.  It  is  not  the  Bible  that  gives 
us  Ixion  on  the  wheel,  or  Sisyphus  vainly  rolling  the 
stone  up  the  mountain-side,  or  Tantalus  up  to  his  lips 
in  the  ever-receding  waters. 

In  any  case,  therefore,  conscience  would  remain ; 
but  in  the  absence  of  revelation  we  should  know  no 
remedy  for  its  sting. 

The  only  balm  in  Gilead  is  the  Blood  of  Jesus ;  it 
alone  has  power  to  deliver  from  sin.  What  will  you 
say  to  the  publican  who  stands  beating  upon  his  breast 
on  account  of  "  a  certain  fearful-looking-for  of  judg- 
ment ?  "  Will  you  refer  him  to  Law  or  Energy  ?  Will 
you  tell  him  about  Anhna  Miindi?  No;  that  would 
be  but  to  mock  his  anguish.  Tell  him  of  the  Christ 
who  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  of  whom  it  is  writ- 
ten, "  He  tasted  death  for  every  man ;  "  and,  *'  His 
blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  Failing  in  this,  you 
leave  him  to  his  despair.     For  "  there  is  none  othei: 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?  89 

name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved." 

No  student  of  Comparative  Religion  can  have  failed 
to  note  the  significant  fact  that  of  all  the  so-called 
sacred  books  of  the  world,  there  is  not  one  except  the 
Bible  which  proposes  a  plan  of  salvation;  that  is,  of 
the  deliverance  of  the  soul  from  the  power  and  penalty 
of  sin.  At  this  point  the  voice  of  Nature  is  dumb. 
Scripture  alone  brings  the  message.  "  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life." 

IV.  Blot  out  the  Bible,  and  death  would  still  re- 
main;   death,  and  judgment  following  after. 

It  needs  no  revelation  from  on  high  to  tell  us  that, 
as  Abd-el-Kader  says,  "  the  black  camel  kneels  at  every 
gate."  The  admonition  is  written  on  the  gravestones 
that  line  the  journey  of  our  life. 

The  air  is  full  of  farewells  to  the  dying 
And  mournings   for   the   dead. 

But  without  the  Scriptures  we  should  have  no  inti- 
mation of  triumph  over  death.  There  would  be  no 
story  of  the  miracle  which  was  wrought  for  us  in 
Joseph's  garden.  At  twilight  the  bearers  brought  the 
lifeless  body  of  Jesus  and  with  tears  and  lamentations 
laid  it  away  in  the  new  made  sepulchre.  A  stone  was 
rolled  before  it,  the  seal  of  the  Roman  Empire  was 
placed  upon  it,  and  a  guard  was  stationed.  And  then 
the  King  of  Terrors  came  and  walked  up  and  down 
before  the  grave.  "  I  have  conquered  the  King  of 
Life,"  he  murmured ;  '*  I  have  Him  here,  and  I  will 
hold  Him !  "     The  night  wore  on,  and  still  the  grim 


90  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

patrol  walked  to  and  fro.  "  I  have  conquered  all,"  he 
said.  ''Adam  —  I  slew  him.  Abraham,  called  the 
Friend  of  God — I  slew  him.  Noah,  whom  the  flood 
spared — I  slew  him.  Moses  went  up  into  a  mountain 
alone,  and  I  met  him  and  slew  him  there.  Methuselah — 
they  thought  I  had  forgotten  him ;  but  though  he  lived 
nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years,  yet  must  his  biog- 
raphers add,  '  He  died.'  I  slew  them  all,  and,  behold, 
the  Prince  of  Life  lies  yonder.  I  have  Him  and  will 
keep  Him ! "  But  in  the  darkness  the  flesh  of  the 
buried  Christ  grew  warm ;  the  cerements  stirred  above 
His  breast;  His  left  hand  was  Hfted  and  loosed  the 
napkin  from  about  the  face ;  His  right  hand  was  raised, 
as  though  a  sceptre  were  in  it,  and  thereat  the  stone 
rolled  from  the  grave's  mouth.  The  King  of  Terrors 
fled  like  a  frightened  spectre  at  daybreak,  and  the  King 
of  Life  came  forth.  "  Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the 
dead  and  become  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept. 
So  is  come  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written.  Death  is 
swallowed  up  in  victory !  O  Death,  where  is  thy 
sting?  O  Grave,  where  is  thy  victory?  The  sting  of 
death  is  sin  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law;  but 
thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  " 

And  without  the  Scriptures  there  would  be  no  cer- 
tainty as  to  the  life  which  follows  death. 

The  dream  would  still  remain,  but  it  would  be  only 
a  dream.  In  our  Museum  of  Natural  History  you  may 
see  the  mummies  of  Peruvian  children  with  toys  in 
their  hands ;  of  women  holding  their  work-baskets, 
containing  thread  and  needles  and  unfinished  fabrics ; 
and  of  men  with  their  weapons  of  war ;  buried  thus  in 
the  hope  of  resuming  their  occupations  in  the  future 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?    91 

life.  But  it  was  only  an  eager  hope,  a  fond  conceit, 
a  beautiful  but  unsubstantial  product  of  the  imagina- 
tion. In  Scripture  the  twilight  vanishes  and  the  dream 
becomes  a  splendid  reality.  Just  yonder  through  the 
mists  of  the  river  we  behold  a  better  country,  even  an 
heavenly : 

Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood, 
Stand  drest  in  living  green. , 

Just  yonder,  where  the  clouds  had  obscured  the 
mountains,  we  observe  the  Holy  City,  New  Jerusalem : 
"  its  twelve  gates  were  twelve  pearls,  and  the  street  of 
the  city  was  pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass." 
Still  yonder,  through  the  rent  veil,  we  behold  our 
Father's  house,  "  Home,  sweet  Home ; "  and  the  re- 
deemed are  greeting  one  another  with  clasping  of 
hands.  O  glorious  day  of  knitting  severed  friend- 
ships up! 

Thus  the  bald  and  barren  facts  which  we  hold  as 
spiritual  intuitions  would  still  abide  were  the  Scrip- 
tures burned  up — God,  duty,  sin  and  death — but  all 
these  truths  would  lose  their  warmth  and  helpfulness, 
like  stars  glowing  in  the  distance,  cold  and  unhelpful. 

Let  those  who  have  thoughtlessly  stood  by  the 
brazier  of  Jehoiakim,  sympathizing  with  the  enemies 
of  Holy  Writ,  pause  and  reflect  upon  the  loss  which 
even  they  would  sustain  were  the  folds  of  the  great 
curtain,  which  God  has  lifted  in  Revelation,  to  close 
again  upon  us. 

If  the  sun  were  to  be  blotted  out,  we  should  not  be 
wholly  without  light;  we  should  still  have  the  light 
of  atomic  friction,  the  phosphorescence,  the  auroral 


92  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

gleam  which  dimly  shone  in  chaos  before  the  great 
luminary  appeared  in  the  heavens.  And  why  should 
not  the  sun  be  blotted  out  ?  It  is  so  far  beyond  us,  so 
enveloped  in  mystery;  a  round  ball,  yonder  in  space, 
some  millions  of  miles  away,  looking  not  larger  than 
a  brazen  shield  or  a  dinner-plate ;  and  the  maculae  can 
be  seen  upon  it  with  the  unaided  eye.  What  care  we 
for  the  sun  ?  But  quench  it — and,  lo,  the  light  is  gone 
from  the  diamond,  the  sparkle  from  the  brook,  all 
beauty  from  the  earth;  the  grass  has  withered,  the 
birds  have  ceased  their  singing.  Our  world  would 
still  be  here — or  somewhere — rolling  round  in  the  si- 
lence and  solitude  of  an  unbroken  twilight. 

The  Bible  is  our  noonday  sun.  Its  glories  are  insig- 
nificant to  those  who  either  deliberately  or  thought- 
lessly decline  to  receive  it.  Here  are  mysteries,  vast 
and  incomprehensible.  Here  are  hopes  and  visions  far 
removed  from  the  world  we  are  living  in :  but  burn  the 
Book — or  what  is  the  same,  let  the  world  lose  its  con- 
fidence in  it — and  all  that  makes  life  worth  living  goes 
from  us.  Our  civil  and  ecclesiastical  freedom,  the 
sanctions  of  home  and  social  life,  hope,  triumphant 
faith,  high  aspiration — all  are  gone.  A  sunless  earth 
is  but  a  faint  r.nd  inadequate  figure  of  what  a  Bible- 
less  world  would  be. 

But  the  Bible  is  in  no  danger;  it  has  come  to  stay; 
it  will  glorify  life  and  illuminate  the  valley  of  death 
until  the  last  penitent  sinner  has  gone  through  heaven's 
gate.  The  burning  of  the  Scriptures  is  an  old  story. 
All  along  the  path  of  history  are  bonfires  of  the  Book ; 
and  still  it  lives.  The  brazier  of  Jehoiakim  is  a  golden 
altar,  the  fumes  of  which,  like  frankincense,  have  gone 
out  into  all  the  earth.     The  wrath  of  hostile  criticism 


BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF,  WHAT  THEN?  93 

in  seeking  to  destroy  the  life  of  the  Scriptures  has  but 
crushed  its  spices,  sending  forth  their  fragrance  to 
the  skies. 

Let  us  rejoice  in  our  possession.  Great  is  the  priv- 
ilege of  those  who,  possessing  the  Light  of  Nature, 
have  the  further  light  of  the  written  Word.  But  there 
is  no  privilege  without  its  corresponding  responsibility. 
We  are  bound  to  bring  our  lives  up  to  the  full  meas- 
ure of  our  light.  Truth  is  a  savour  of  life  unto  life,  or 
of  death  unto  death.  We  shall  be  judged,  not  like  the 
heathen,  by  the  law  which  is  written  in  our  hearts,  but 
by  our  clearer  light.  We  shall  go  to  the  Judgment, 
for  better  or  for  worse,  with  the  Bible  in  our  hands. 
The  practical  lesson  is  that  which  was  found  written  on 
the  fly-leaf  of  Michael  Bruce's  Bible  after  his  death: 

*Tis  very  vain  of  me  to  boast 
How  small  a  price  this  Bible  cost; 
The   Day   of  Judgment   will   make   clear, 
Twas  very  cheap  or  very  dear. 


VIII 
IS  THE  BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF  ? 

IN  1 88 1  a  company  of  archaeologists  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Herr  Brugsch,  while  excavating  near 
the  ancient  city  of  Thebes,  unearthed  a  burying- 
place  called  "  The  Gate  of  the  Kings,"  from  which  they 
took  thirty-six  mummies  of  royal  personages  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty,  that  is,  a  period  prior  to  icx)0  B.  C. 
Among  them  was  Rameses  II,  or  Sesostris,  the  Pha- 
raoh of  the  captivity.  By  the  side  of  these  royal  mum- 
mies were  found  hampers  of  food,  provided  for  their 
use  at  the  resurrection.  A  strange  awakening  this ! 
The  shrivelled  bodies  of  the  dead  were  carried  forth 
on  the  shoulders  of  Arabs  into  the  light  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  of  the  Christian  Era !  They  were 
wrapped  in  strips  of  byssus,  which  were  inscribed  with 
cabalistic  sentences  from  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead,"  the 
Scriptures  of  ancient  Egypt.  How  superannuated  this 
book !  How  far  behind  the  progress  of  events  these 
worthies  of  long  ago ! 

But  suppose  that,  from  among  that  imposing  com- 
pany of  worthies,  a  princess  had  calmly  risen  with  all 
the  ancient  dignity  of  her  high  station,  light  in  her  eyes 
and  unabated  strength  in  her  limbs,  and  had  unfolded 
a  scroll,  written  in  our  current  speech,  covering  all  the 
progress  of  the  intervening  centuries  and  fully  abreast 
of  the  spirit  of  this  age,  would  not  that  have  been 
accounted  an  extraordinary  thing? 

95 


96  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Yet  this  is  indeed  a  veritable  fact.  Our  Religion 
is  as  old  as  the  Pharaohs  and  as  fresh  as  this  morn- 
ing's dew.  In  the  ancient  personification  of  Wisdom 
it  speaks  on  this  wise  :  ''  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting, 
from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  world  was"  (Prov. 
viii  '.23).  She  holds  in  her  hands  the  Scriptures,  which 
were  sealed  some  thousands  of  years  ago  with  a  Finis, 
a  word  standing  like  a  challenge  to  all  succeeding  ages, 
"  Supplant  me — supersede  me — supplement  me — if  you 
can !  " 

It  is  our  present  purpose  to  show  that  the  religion 
set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  was  in  the  beginning  ad- 
justed to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  time.  It  can  never  be 
superannuated,  because  it  was  prepared  in  the  divine 
counsels  with  a  definite  and  comprehensive  view  to 
progress.  It  can  never  be  supplemented,  because 
it  was  completed  once  for  all.  It  can  never  be 
amended,  because  it  was  wholly  true  when  the  divine 
seal  was  put  upon  it.  Its  truths  and  precepts,  com- 
piled largely  in  the  barbaric  days  of  the  world's  in- 
fancy, are  applicable  to  all  the  needs  and  conditions 
of  this  enlightened  age.  It  is  "  literature "  indeed, 
but  it  is  the  miracle  of  literature,  in  that,  being  true 
and  complete  and  applicable  to  universal  need,  it  stands 
forever. 

I.  Let  us  mark  its  Anticipations  of  Science. 

It  i-6  frequently  said  that  the  Bible,  as  a  handbook 
of  religion,  was  not  intended  to  be  scientific.  Granted : 
but  it  was  intended  to  be  true,  scientifically  as  every 
other  way.  It  claims  to  be  "  profitable  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness, that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  every  good  work.'*     If  the  hypothetical 


IS   THE   BIBLE   DISPOSED    OF?    97 

book  in  the  hand  of  the  Egyptian  princess  were  found 
to  be  inaccurate  in  its  statements  as  to  the  common 
facts  of  observation,  it  could  scarcely  claim  to  be  trust- 
worthy in  its  averments  as  to  things  lying  beyond  the 
cognizance  of  the  senses.  Falsiis  in  uno,  falsus  in 
cmnibus.  If  the  scientific  propositions  of  the  Bible 
are  disproven  we  may  as  well  set  out  in  quest  of  some 
more  trustworthy  guide  in  spiritual  things.  It  is  not 
likely  that  blind  faith  will  follow  a  leader  who  has 
failed  to  commend  himself  to  open  eyes. 

It  has  pleased  God  to  reveal  Himself  in  two  Books. 
One  of  these  is  the  Bible  and  the  other  is  the  Book  of 
Nature,  written  in  footprints  on  the  rocks  and  in  the 
luminous  pathways  of  the  stars.  In  one  of  Longfel- 
low's poems  he  sings  of  the  latter  thus : 

Nature,  the  old  nurse,  took 

A  child  upon  her  knee, 
Saying:    "Here  is  a  story-book 

Thy  Father  has  written  for  thee." 

"  Come  wander  with  me,"  she  said, 
"  Into  regions  yet  untrod ; 
And  read  what  is  still  unread 
In  the  manuscripts  of  God." 

And  he  wandered  away  and  away 

With  Nature,  the  dear  old  nurse, 
Who  sang  to  him  night  and  day 

The  rhymes  of  the  universe. 

And  whenever  the  way  seemed  long, 

Or  his  heart  began  to  fail, 
She  would  sing  a  more  wonderful  song, 

Or  tell  a  more  marvelous  tale. 


98  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

It  is  obvious  that  if  the  Bible  is  true,  it  must  cor- 
respond in  every  particular  with  the  statements  of  this 
Book  of  Nature  as  they  are  being  interpreted  by  sci- 
ence. Not  that  it  must  assent  to  every  theory  of  so- 
called  science ;  for  it  is  a  matter  of  common  fame  that 
multitudes  of  such  propositions  come  and  go  like  mists 
before  the  morning  sun.  But  the  Bible  as  a  revelation, 
finished  and  sealed  with  the  divine  seal,  must  be  in 
exact  harmony  with  all  the  demonstrated  facts  of  sci- 
ence. And  if  this  shall  appear,  then  it  follows  that  the 
Scriptures,  as  a  completed  book,  were  and  are  contin- 
uously abreast  of  this  and  every  age. 

Let  us  pause  to  affirm,  at  this  point,  that  the  so- 
called  conflict  between  science  and  the  Scriptures  is 
wholly  an  artificial  issue.  It  was  not  the  Church,  as 
such,  that  opposed  Galileo  standing  for  the  Copernican 
System,  but  it  was  scientists  within  the  Church  who 
represented  the  Aristotelian  school  in  affirming  a 
"closed  universe"  with  the  earth  at  its  centre.  In 
point  of  fact,  Galileo  was  proceeding  along  Scriptural 
lines  in  standing  not  for  a  "  firmament "  but  for  an 
*' open  expanse"  (R.  V.  margin).  He  was  a  victim, 
not  of  ecclesiastical  persecution,  but  of  the  scholastic 
science  of  his  time.  If  the  Bible  is  trustworthy  it  is 
impossible  that  it  should,  in  whole  or  in  any  part,  be 
at  odds  with  scientific  truth. 

How  stands  the  matter  as  to  the  Origin  of  things  ? 

The  Bible  is  the  Book  of  Origins;  and  science  has 
always  been  concerned  with  the  same  problem.  It  was 
a  scientific  maxim  of  the  ancients.  Ex  nihilo  nihil  Ht; 
that  is,  "  Out  of  nothing,  nothing  comes :  "  but  in  the 
progress  of  investigation  along  the  centuries  there  has 
been  an  abandonment  of  that  maxim.     The  eternity  of 


IS  THE   BIBLE   DISPOSED   OF?     99 

matter  is  not  affirmed  now ;  on  the  contrary  scientists 
are  generally  agreed  in  assuming  a  beginning  of  things 
and  they  are  engaged  in  searching  after  it.  So  that 
science  has  returned  to  the  Scriptures,  whose  great 
scientific  word  is  bara,  that  is,  "  Created  out  of  noth- 
ing." This  bara,  however,  cannot  be  demonstrated,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  but  must  be  received  by  faith; 
as  it  is  written,  "  By  faith  we  understand  that  things 
which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things  which  do  ap- 
pear "  (Heb.  xi :  3).  The  utmost  that  science  has  been 
able  to  do  thus  far  is  to  trace  by  a  series  of  clever 
hypotheses  all  existence  to  an  original  primordial 
germ ;  and  there  it  halts  bewildered.  At  this  point  the 
Scriptures  come  to  its  assistance,  going  one  step  fur- 
ther, a  stupendous  step,  and  making  the  sublime  asser- 
tion, "  In  the  beginning,  God." 

A  further  point  of  agreement  is  in  the  Order  of 
Creation. 

In  the  Book  of  Wisdom  it  stands  as  follows: 
Heaven,  earth,  light,  air,  grass,  herbs,  trees,  stars,  fish, 
amphibia,  fowls,  creeping  things,  cattle,  man.  Sir  J. 
W.  Dawson  says,  "  The  order  of  creation,  as  thus 
stated  in  Genesis,  is  faultless  in  the  light  of  modern 
science;"  and  the  majority  of  trustworthy  scientists 
will  probably  agree  with  him.  If  so,  the  Scriptural 
anticipation  must  be  in  the  nature  of  either  a  miracle 
or  a  strange  coincidence.  Which  is  the  more  probable  ? 
Let  us  see :  suppose  we  take  the  first  fifteen  letters  of 
the  alphabet  and  shake  them  up.  If  now,  on  drawing 
them  out,  we  were  to  find  them  arranged  in  their 
proper  consecutive  order,  that  would  be  a  strange  coin- 
cidence; how  strange  will  appear  from  the  mathe- 
matical  fact  that  the  possible  permutations  of  these 


100       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

fifteen  letters  are  1,307,674,368,000!  That  is,  the 
chances  are  more  than  a  trilHon  to  one  against  the 
probability  that  the  order  of  creation  as  given  in  Scrip- 
ture should,  by  mere  coincidence,  correspond  with  the 
order  as  announced  in  modern  science.  To  thought- 
ful minds  this  is  a  significant  fact  and  it  must  surely 
create  a  strong  presumption  that  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
is  something  more  than  common  literature. 

And  again  as  to  the  Unity  of  Creation. 

The  tendency  of  modern  science  is  wholly  toward 
an  abandonment  of  the  position  that  the  universe  is 
'*  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms."  It  affirms  the 
unity  of  force.  It  affirms  the  unity  of  design,  also, 
all  things  being  adjusted  to  their  environment  and 
their  necessary  use.  It  affirms  the  unity  of  the  race; 
since,  however  you  may  differentiate  between  the  Cau- 
casian and  the  Ethiopian,  the  same  life-current  flowing 
through  their  veins  seems  to  say,  "  God  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men."  The  lines  of  scientific 
research  converge  as  they  move  backward ;  the  stars 
in  their  courses  appearing  to  obey  some  mandate  from 
a  central  throne  and  all  the  types  of  mundane  ex- 
istence seeming  to  bend  toward  a  common  source.  All 
this  is  distinctly  scriptural.  But  again,  where  Sci- 
ence of  necessity  halts  with  knitted  brows.  Wisdom 
goes  on  to  say,  "  In  the  beginning,  God." 

II.  We  turn  now  to  a  consideration  of  the  antici- 
pation of  events ;    that  is,  Prophecy. 

It  is  quite  the  fashion  for  rationalistic  critics,  such 
as  Kuenen  and  his  followers,  to  deny  the  supernatural 
in  prophecy  and  affirm  that  "  the  sole  mission  of  the 
prophets  was  to  convey  religious  truth  to  the  people 
of  their  time ; "    the  intimation  being  that  they  were 


IS   THE   BIBLE    DISPOSED   OF?  101 

impostors,  inadvertently  or  otherwise,  when  they  under- 
took to  predict  future  events.  But  to  deny  the  super- 
natural factor  in  prophecy  is  to  tear  the  Book  of  Wis- 
dom to  tatters ;  for  it  is  a  book  of  predictions  from 
beginning  to  end. 

As  to  the  Jews ;  there  is  an  unbroken  line  of  proph- 
ecy respecting  their  history,  in  detail  and  particular. 
It  begins  at  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  where  Abraham,  the 
father  of  the  chosen  people,  gazing  upward  at  the 
starry  heavens,  hears  the  Voice,  saying,  "  So  shall  thy 
seed  be."  It  follows  his  journey  along  the  Euphrates 
into  the  land  of  promise,  continuing  with  his  children 
in  the  hard  bondage  of  Egypt,  the  Exodus,  the  weary 
journey  of  the  wilderness,  the  settlement  in  Palestine, 
the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  and  its  division,  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  the  restoration  by  the  decree  of 
Cyrus  who  is  mentioned  by  name  a  hundred  and  forty 
years  before  his  birth,  the  rebuilding  of  the  Holy  City 
and  the  restoration  of  the  ancestral  form  of  worship, 
the  slow  but  sure  decline  of  spiritual  vigour,  the  Roman 
conquest  and  the  dispersion  of  the  people  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  To  one  who  studies  the  close 
correspondence  between  these  prophecies  and  events  as 
they  have  occurred  in  the  history  of  this  wonderful 
people  there  is  nothing  strange  in  the  reply  which 
was  given  by  the  chaplain  of  Frederick  the  Great,  when 
asked  for  a  miracle :  "  The  Jews,  your  Majesty." 

And  the  same  correspondence  is  observed  in  a  frank 
contemplation  of  the  prophecies  concerning  the  Great 
Powers  of  the  pagan  world.  The  only  way  to  solve 
the  problem  of  the  image  which  was  set  up  in  the  plain 
of  Dura,  and  of  the  seven  beasts  which  rose  from  the 
waters  of  Chebar,  is  either  to  admit  the  supernatural 


102  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

in  prophecy  or  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  as  rationaUsts 
do,  by  pronouncing  the  Book  of  Daniel  an  impudent 
ex  post  facto  fraud. 

The  immense  improbabihty  of  the  fulfilment  of  such 
prophecies  is  worth  considering.  Macaulay  once  ven- 
tured into  the  realms  of  prediction,  when  he  intimated 
that  perhaps,  in  the  remote  future,  some  traveller  from 
New  Zealand  might,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude, 
"  take  his  stand  on  a  broken  arch  of  the  London  bridge 
to  sketch  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's."  His  words  repre- 
sent the  very  summit  of  improbability;  yet  there  are 
a  thousand  prophecies  in  Scripture  equally  improbable, 
uttered  at  times  when  the  world-powers  were  in  their 
glory;  and  not  one  of  them  has  gone  by  default. 
Tyre,  Sidon,  Egypt,  Babylon,  Assyria ;  they  have 
turned  out  precisely  as  the  ancient  prophets  said  they 
would  do.  The  graves  of  nations  line  the  path  of  his- 
tory; and  from  their  solitary  ruins  the  owl  and  bit- 
tern, the  fox  and  jackal  bear  testimony  to  the  exact 
truth  of  the  Word  of  God. 

But  most  marvellous  are  the  prophecies  which  cen- 
tre in  Christ.  They  run  like  a  golden  thread  through 
Scripture  from  the  protevangel  in  Paradise  to  the 
words  of  Malachi,  who  stands  in  the  late  twilight  of 
the  Old  Economy,  torch  in  hand,  saying,  "  The  Sun  of 
Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  His  wings !  '* 
These  prophecies  are  many,  minute,  definite  and  cli- 
macteric. They  have  to  do  with  the  miraculous  birth, 
the  life  and  character,  the  betrayal,  suflferings,  singular 
death,  burial  and  resurrection  of  Christ.  As  to  their 
Messianic  intent  and  their  distinct  fulfillment  we  have 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  Himself  who,  after  His  ascen- 
sion, said  to  His  incredulous  disciples  on  the  way  to 


IS  THE   BIBLE    DISPOSED   OF?  103 

Emmaus,  "  O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all 
that  the  prophets  have  spoken !  Ought  not  Christ  to 
have  suffered  these  things,  and  to  enter  into  His 
glory?"  And  beginning  at  Moses,  and  all  the  pro- 
phets. He  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures 
the  things  concerning  Himself  (Luke  xxiv:  25-27). 

By  the  certitude  of  the  prophecies  which  have  been 
confirmed  thus  far,  we  are  led  to  place  our  confidence 
in  those  which  are  still  unfulfilled. 

The  New  Testament  as  well  as  the  Old  is  in  many 
particulars  a  prophetic  book.  It  points  forward  to 
Pentecost  and  to  the  procession  of  events  succeeding 
it;  to  the  great  propaganda  and  the  Gospel  triumphs 
of  the  centuries,  to  the  vast  missionary  enterprises  now 
being  carried  on,  and  to  great  Armageddon  which  shall 
close  the  present  order  of  things.  If  the  prophecies 
of  this  Book  have  been  so  accurately  confirmed  in  the 
history  of  the  past,  are  we  not  justified  in  believing 
that  not  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  pass  away  until  all 
be  fulfilled?  Aye,  the  Lord,  in  pursuance  of  its  pre- 
dictions, shall  go  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer  as 
He  has  done  hitherto,  until  His  glory  shall  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

III.  Let  us  attend  now  to  the  Bible's  anticipations 
of  doctrinal  truth. 

The  Bible  alone  of  all  the  so-called  sacred  books 
yields  a  "  system  "  of  theology.  The  oldest  of  Chris- 
tian symbols  is  the  Apostles'  Creed ;  the  origin  of 
which,  though  not  definitely  known,  could  not  have 
been  later  than  the  period  succeeding  the  Apostolic  Age. 
It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  this  historic  creed  we 
have  a  compendium  of  practically  all  the  doctrines  of 
the  Christian  faith.     For  eighteen  centuries  the  con- 


104         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

troversialists  have  been  discussing  its  propositions ;  but 
they  have  not  added  to  it  a  single  doctrine  nor  sub- 
tracted a  single  doctrine  from  it.  Its  two  fundamental 
truths  are  God  the  Father  and  the  incarnation  of  God 
in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

As  to  the  Fatherhood  of  God  the  v^orld  responds 
and  will  ever  respond,  Yea  and  Amen.  The  sugges- 
tion that  He  is  force  or  energy  or  any  other  imper- 
sonal thing  will  never  touch  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  the  race.  We  must  have  a  God  who  has  eyes  to 
see,  a  heart  to  pity  and  an  omnipotent  arm  to  help  us. 
It  is  quite  safe  to  assert,  that  however  this  truth  may 
be  antagonized  from  time  to  time,  the  world  will  never 
outlive  or  supplant  it. 

As  to  Christ,  the  Incarnation  of  God,  He  has  come 
down  through  history,  a  Figure  of  more  and  more 
commanding  influence  from  age  to  age.  The  testimony 
of  His  contemporaries,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man,"  is  the  intensified  conviction  of  our  time.  All 
the  investigations  of  philosophers,  with  all  the  contra- 
dictions of  His  enemies,  have  not  dimmed  the  sublime 
import  of  His  teaching  nor  proven  the  falsity  of  a 
single  word  that  ever  fell  from  His  lips.  It  is  with 
these  words  of  Jesus  as  with  atoms  of  oxygen,  of  which 
Huxley  says,  ''  It  matters  not  into  how  many  myriad 
substances — animal,  plant  and  mineral — an  atom  of 
oxygen  may  have  entered,  nor  what  isolation  it  may 
have  undergone,  bond  or  free,  it  retains  its  own  quali- 
ties. It  matters  not  how  many  millions  of  years  may 
have  elapsed  during  these  changes,  age  cannot  wither 
or  weaken  it.  Amid  the  fierce  play  of  the  mighty 
agencies  to  which  it  has  been  subjected  it  remains  un- 
broken and  unworn."    Thus,  I  say,  it  is  with  the  words' 


IS   THE    BIBLE  DISPOSED  OF?  105 

of  the  great  Teacher;  in  passing  through  the  stu- 
pendous test  of  the  centuries,  they  have  undergone  no 
change.  They  touch  human  Hfe  at  every  point  in  its 
circumference  and  formulate  every  truth  which  stands 
as  demonstrated  in  the  spiritual  realm.  All  the  dis- 
coveries of  philosophy  have  not  produced  a  single  ad- 
ditional truth ;  they  have  merely  thrown  new  light 
upon  the  teachings  of  Christ.  Every  doctrine  which 
has  been  advanced,  from  time  to  time,  in  opposition  to 
this  teaching,  has  been  pronounced  a  heresy  and  inev- 
itably demonstrated  to  be  false  by  the  stern  logic  of 
events.  No  New  Theology  has  thus  far  been  able  to 
vindicate  itself;  its  only  hope  of  vindication,  in  the 
clear  light  of  history,  being  in  its  final  adjustment  to 
the  doctrinal  system  of  Him  who  said,  "  I  am  the  truth." 

IV.  It  remains  to  consider  the  scriptural  anticipa- 
tions of  human  need,  as  illustrated  in  the  practical  life 
and  experience  of  nations  and  men. 

In  the  teachings  of  the  Book  there  are  two  great 
principles  which  underlie  all  permanent  national  life, 
to  wit.  The  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood 
of  Man.  The  word  which  Paul  uttered  on  Mars'  Hill 
did  but  echo  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  later  words  of  Jesus :  ''  The  God  whose  offspring 
we  are  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men." 

In  pursuance  of  these  principles  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find  that  the  laws  and  jurisprudence  of  the 
civilized  nations  are  modelled  after  the  pattern  given  in 
the  Mount.  The  laws  regulating  our  domestic,  social, 
civil  and  industrial  life  get  their  original  suggestion 
from  the  Mosaic  code.  The  Theocracy  of  Israel  was 
an  ideal  form  of  government,  a  premature  Utopia,  but 
destined  to  be  re-estabHshed  in  the  Golden  Age. 


106         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

It  is  sometimes  affirmed,  as  an  objection  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  there  are  portions  which  cannot  be  read 
aloud.  It  is  true;  but  this  is  an  argument  in  their 
favour;  since  they  were  not  written  to  be  read  aloud 
but  to  regulate  all  human  life.  There  are  things  oc- 
curring in  every  Civil  Court  which  cannot  be  pro- 
claimed on  the  housetops.  There  are  surgical  opera- 
tions in  every  hospital,  necessary  and  helpful,  which 
it  would  not  be  well  to  perform  before  the  public  eyes. 
The  Bible  is  intended  to  be  a  perfect  system  of  moral 
pathology  and  therapeutics.  It  anticipates  all  public 
crimes  and  private  vices,  and  deals  heroically  with 
them.  On  its  positive  side  it  favours  every  benevolent 
form  of  enterprise ;  it  furnishes  a  stable  basis  for 
schools  and  hospitals  and  reformatories.  The  world's 
w^elfare  is  all  within  its  pages ;  the  secret  of  true  civi- 
lization is  here.  The  wise  enactments  of  all  parlia- 
ments, the  primal  form  of  Magna  Charta,  the  salutary 
decisions  of  all  honest  courts ;  these  are  here.  As  the 
Angel  Muriel,  in  Paradise  Lost,  is  said  to  have  de- 
scended to  earth  in  a  sunbeam,  so  has  the  religion  of 
this  Wondrous  Book  come  down  with  all  the  blessings 
of  civilization  to  the  children  of  men. 

And  above  all  it  is  adjusted  to  the  need  of  indi- 
vidual souls.  Ah,  here  the  word  of  the  Lord  has  been 
tried  in  the  hottest  fires !  "  The  old  ha'  Bible  "  lies  on 
the  table  in  the  cotter's  home,  and  its  truths  strike  the 
sweetest  note  in  our  domestic  life.  The  sociological 
problems  of  our  time  are  being  discussed,  avowedly, 
along  the  lines  marked  out  in  Holy  Writ,  where  the 
keynote  ever  is  "  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest 
number,  here  and  always."  In  our  business  life  we  are 
finding  that  the  teachings  of  this  Book  make  honest 


IS   THE   BIBLE    DISPOSED    OF?    107 

and  earnest  men.  In  our  political  life  it  stands  guar- 
antee for  an  upright  administration.  In  our  industrial 
life  it  presents  the  Golden  Rule  as  the  great  secret  for 
the  solution  of  all  the  vexed  problems  of  capital  and 
labour.  In  personal  life  it  stands  by  a  man  in  the  bitter 
hour  of  temptation,  in  the  stern  discharge  of  duty,  un- 
der the  heavy  burdens  of  sorrow  and  in  the  trying  hour 
of  death.  Touch  it  wherever  you  will,  the  religion  of 
this  book  stands  the  test  of  experience.  It  is  a  religion 
to  live  by ;   it  is  a  religion  to  die  by. 

The  one  pre-eminent  fact  by  which  this  religion 
stands  or  falls  is  the  salvation  it  offers  in  Christ  cruci- 
fied. And  here  again  it  stands  solitary  and  alone. 
There  are  other  sacred  books  and  other  religions  which 
offer  us  religious  doctrines  and  ethical  codes ;  but 
there  is  none  that  answers  this  question :  "  What  shall 
a  man  do  to  be  delivered  from  the  record  of  a  sinful 
past  ?  "     Coleridge  speaks  of  a  man's  living 

As  one  that  on  a  lonesome  road 

Doth  walk  in  fear  and  dread, 
Because  he  knows  a  ghastly  fiend 

Doth  close  behind  him  tread. 

This  is  the  grim  spectre  of  the  past.  He  is  a  brave 
man  who  dare,  without  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  look  over 
his  shoulder.  The  one  consistent  and  continual  call 
of  Wisdom  in  this  Book  of  Books  is,  "  Come  now  and 
let  us  reason  together :  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 
they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red 
like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool !  " 

In  view  of  these  facts  we  may  well  be  confident  of 
the  future.  The  religion  which  has  endured  the  fierce 
ordeals  of  the  past  will  not  fail  in  the  coming  days. 


108         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

It  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or 
ever  the  world  was;  and  it  was  adjusted,  every  way, 
to  all  the  possible  progress  of  the  ages.  If  a  new  relig- 
ion were  to  be  invented  by  the  combined  wisdom  of 
all  living  philosophers,  it  could  not  add  a  single  truth 
to  the  contents  of  this  Book  of  Wisdom.  All  was  said 
here,  once  for  all. 

We  need  not  fear  the  attacks  of  unbelief.  A  Span- 
ish frigate  lay  all  night  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  firing 
broadsides  at  a  craft  which  loomed  up  in  the  distance. 
Not  a  shot  was  returned.  The  day  broke  and,  lo,  yon- 
der a  mighty  rock  rose  from  the  sea.  Of  what  avail 
were  those  broadsides?  So  the  religion  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  an  impregnable  rock,  resists,  without  reply, 
the  attacks  of  its  foes.  Our  vision  is  dim,  because  the 
smoke  of  battle  is  around  us ;  but  wait  until  the  day 
breaks !  "  The  voice  said.  Cry !  And  I  answered, 
What  shall  I  cry?  All  flesh  is  grass  and  all  the  good- 
liness  thereof  is  as  the  flower  of  the  field;  the  grass 
withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but  the  word  of  our  God 
shall  stand  forever !  " 


THE  UNCHANGEABLE  PLAN  OF 
SALVATION 


Lamm,  das  gelitten,  und  Lowe,  der  siegrelch  gerungen! 

Blutendes  Opfer,  und  Held,  der  die  Holle  bezwungen ! 

Brechendes   Herz, 

Das  sich  aus  irdischem  Schmerz 

Ueber  die  Himmel  geschwungen! 

Hensser-Schweizer 


IX 

THE  ATONEMENT  IN   MODERN 
THOUGHT 

IT  was  the  mission  of  Isaiah,  the  evangelical  prophet, 
to  announce  the  Vicarious  Death  of  Christ  for 
the  salvation  of  sinners ;  but  he  was  met  by 
incredulity  on  every  side.  "  Who  hath  believed  our 
report,"  he  complains ;  "  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of 
the  Lord  revealed  ? "  In  vain  did  he  present  the 
Messiah  as  the  One  to  be  desired  :  they  said,  "  He  hath 
no  form  nor  comeliness ;  and  when  we  shall  see  Him, 
there  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  Him."  In  vain 
did  he  point  to  the  innocent  Victim  on  the  Cross,  bear- 
ing their  griefs  and  carrying  their  sorrows;  they  an- 
swered, "  He  is  stricken,  smitten  of  God  and  afflicted !  " 
Thus  the  "  report "  of  God's  pardoning  grace  in  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Cross  has  ever  been  repugnant  to  the 
sinful  hearts  of  men. 

It  devolved  on  Paul,  in  like  manner,  to  "  excuse  the 
scandal  of  the  Cross."  He  said,  *'  The  Jews  require  a 
sign,  and  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom ;  but  we  preach 
Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block  and 
unto  the  Greeks  foolishness  but  to  them  which  are 
called,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of 
God"  (I  Cor.  i:  22-24). 

A  book  has  recently  appeared,  called  "  The  Atone- 
ment in  Modern  Religious  Thought,"  in  which  seven- 
teen men  of  more  or  less   distinction  as  theological 

111 


112         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

teachers  display  their  ingenuity,  for  the  most  part,  in 
eliminating  the  Cross  as  a  saving  factor  from  the  relig- 
ion of  Christ.  No  better  illustration  could  be  found 
of  the  fact  that  the  Greeks  are  still  seeking  after  wis- 
dom by  lantern-light,  while  refusing  the  authority  and 
infallible  guidance  of  the  Scriptures.  The  key-note 
of  the  volume  referred  to  is  struck  in  the  Publishers' 
Note :  "  This  book  may  be  taken  as  an  answer  to  the 
question  whether  the  Christian  consciousness  of  to-day, 
in  the  view  of  modern  historical,  critical  and  ethical 
investigation,  has  any  fresh  affirmation  to  make,  or 
any  new  attitude  to  assume,  on  this  central  doctrine  of 
the  Church's  faith."  And  the  point  of  its  argument 
may  be  inferred  from  the  following  words  on  the  last 
page :  '*  Christianity  will  not  evangelize  the  nations  on 
the  strength  of  an  inspired  Bible  and  a  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement  struck  through  with  Hebrew  ritualism,  and 
construed  by  medieval  logic  from  facts  that  have  turned 
out  to  be  composite  legends."  This  is  interesting,  to 
put  it  mildly,  in  view  of  the  progress  of  Christian  civ- 
ilization, and  of  the  fact  that  some  hundreds  of  millions 
of  people  on  earth,  and  a  great  multitude  which  no  man 
can  number  in  heaven,  profess  to  have  been  saved 
through  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  Vicarious  Death 
of  the  Lamb  of  God. 

The  first  view  of  the  Atonement,  which  calls  for  our 
consideration  in  a  survey  of  modern  religious  thought, 
is  the  Arian  or  Unitarian  view ;  which  is  an  open  and 
avowed  denial  of  the  doctrine,  in  toto. 

It  is  stated  thus  by  one  of  its  leading  advocates : 
"  I  do  not  believe,  with  the  Calvinist,  in  the  doctrine  of 
vicarious  Atonement,  or  in  other  words,  that  the  sins 
of  men  were  imputed  or  transferred  to  Christ,  who 


THE   ATONEMENT,    ETC.         113 

suffered  in  their  room  and  stead,  to  render  God  pla- 
cable to  divine  justice.  I  do  not  believe  this,  because 
guilt  is  personal  and  cannot  be  transferred.  Punish- 
ment might  be  inflicted  on  the  innocent  instead  of  the 
guilty,  but  this  would  not  remove  the  stain  of  moral 
turpitude  from  the  offender;  and,  instead  of  satisfy- 
ing justice,  it  would,  in  itself,  be  essentially  unjust. 
Were  a  human  tribunal  to  permit  convicted  criminals 
to  escape  the  penalties  justly  due  to  their  offenses,  and 
to  punish  innocent  and  virtuous  men  in  their  room, 
would  not  the  whole  world  exclaim  against  such  a 
violation  of  the  plainest  principles  of  equity  ?  Yet  such 
is  the  charge  imputed  against  the  Deity  in  Calvinistic 
creeds !  I  do  not,  therefore,  believe  in  their  doctrine 
of  satisfaction,  because  it  impeaches  the  justice  of  God; 
and  I  further  reject  it  because  it  robs  Him  of  His 
mercy  and  free  grace.  If  justice  be  satisfied,  mercy 
has  no  act  to  perform;  and  if  the  debt  be  paid,  the 
gift  of  pardon  cannot  be  free." 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  statement  rests  upon 
a  fundamental  denial  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  If 
Christ  were  a  mere  man,  as  the  Arians  assert,  it  makes 
little  or  no  difference  whether  or  why  or  how  He  died 
for  us.  His  death  is  practically  no  more  to  us  than 
the  fact  that  Socrates  drank  the  cup  of  hemlock  or  that 
John  Huss  was  burned  at  the  stake,  since  our  ultimate 
salvation  can  have  no  vital  relation  to  it. 

It  rests,  also,  upon  the  assertion  that  the  innocent 
cannot  suffer  for  the  guilty.  This  is,  on  the  one  hand, 
a  question  of  fact ;  the  fact  being  that  the  innocent  do 
suffer  for  the  guilty  and  are  so  suffering  all  about  us ; 
kings  for  the  subjects,  parents  for  their  children  and 
everybody  for  the  misdeeds  of  his  forebears.     Is  not 


114         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

sympathy  the  noblest  as  well  as  the  commonest  thing 
in  human  experience  ?  At  this  point  our  nature  reaches 
its  highest  and  best.  We  esteem  above  all  the  un- 
selfish man  who  voluntarily  bears  the  burdens  of  others. 
Should  we  not,  then,  expect  something  of  the  same 
sort  in  our  Father?  He  made  us  in  His  likeness.  It 
would  be  monstrous  if  God  did  not  sympathize  with  His 
children  who  have  fallen  into  trouble.  The  Cross  is  the 
very  highest  expression  of  sympathy  in  the  universe. 
The  Atonement  is  what  w^e  should  expect.  It  is  just 
like  God.  It  is  His  response  to  universal  need.  It  fits 
our  circumstances.  As  Coleridge  said,  "  The  Gospel 
finds  me."  It  answers  the  deepest  longing  of  earnest 
souls.  Dr.  Chamberlain  relates,  that  among  those  con- 
verted by  his  preaching  at  the  sacred  city  of  Benares 
w^as  a  devotee  who  had  dragged  himself  many  miles 
upon  his  knees  and  elbows  to  bathe  in  the  Ganges.  He 
had  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  the  common  conviction 
of  sin  and  desire  of  cleansing.  "  If  I  can  but  reach  the 
Ganges,"  he  thought,  "  this  shame  and  bondage  and 
fear  will  be  taken  away."  Weak  and  emaciated  from 
his  long  pilgrimage,  he  dragged  himself  down  to  the 
river's  edge  and,  praying  to  Gunga,  crept  into  it ;  then 
withdrawing,  he  lay  upon  the  river's  bank  and  moaned, 
"  The  pain  is  still  here !  "  At  that  moment  he  heard 
a  voice  from  the  shadow  of  a  banyan-tree  near  by. 
It  was  the  missionary  telling  the  story  of  the  Cross. 
The  devotee  listened,  and  drank  it  in,  rose  to  his  knees, 
then  to  his  feet ;  then,  unable  to  restrain  himself, 
clapped  his  hands  and  cried,  "  That's  what  I  want ! 
That's  what  I  want !  "  It  is  what  we  all  want ;  the 
whole  creation  has  from  time  immemorial  groaned  and 
travailed  for  it. 


THE   ATONEMENT,    ETC.  115 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  question  of  covenant ; 
the  truth  being  that  there  are  three  parties  only  to  the 
Covenant  of  Grace;  to  wit,  God  the  Father,  God  the 
Son,  and  man  the  sinner :  if  God  the  Father  is  wilHng 
to  send  His  Son,  and  if  the  Son  is  wilHng  to  suffer  and 
die,  and  if  I,  the  sinner,  the  party  of  the  third  part,  am 
willing  to  be  saved  in  this  manner,  there  is  no  person 
in  the  universe  who  is  competent  to  object  to  it. 

The  other  pillar  of  the  Arian  heresy  is  the  assertion 
that  the  sacrificial  view  of  the  Atonement  robs  God  of 
free  Grace.  This  is  a  strange  position  to  take  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  grace  is  only  possible  by  reason  of  the 
satisfaction  rendered  to  Justice  in  the  vicarious  death 
of  Christ.  Thus  only  is  God  able  to  be  ''  just  and  the 
justifier  of  the  ungodly."  This  is  the  substance  of 
Paul's  argument  (Romans  5th  chapter,  and  elsewhere). 

The  second  view  of  the  Atonement  which  requires 
our  consideration  is  known  as  the  Moral  Influence 
Theory. 

Its  chief  advocate  in  modern  controversy  is  Dr. 
Bushnell,  who  said,  "  The  work  of  Christ  terminates 
not  in  the  release  of  penalties  by  due  compensation, 
but  in  the  transformation  of  character  and  the  rescue 
in  that  manner  of  guilty  men  from  the  retributive  cau- 
sations provoked  by  their  sins."  In  this  view  the  work 
of  Christ  was  purely  exemplary,  as  setting  forth  the 
beauty  of  holiness.  His  life  was  indeed  a  wonderful 
life,  recorded  briefly  in  the  monograph,  "  He  went  about 
doing  good."  What  a  world  this  would  be  if  all  were 
to  follow  in  His  steps!  His  death,  also,  was  a  won- 
derful death,  the  most  stupendous  exhibit  of  self-sacri- 
fice that  the  world  ever  saw.  All  the  heroism  of  all 
the  heroes  who  have  gone  to  the  stake  and  the  gallows 


116        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

for  truth  and  righteousness  is  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  heroism  of  Him  who  "  set  His  face  steadfastly  " 
toward  the  Cross.  "  Go  and  do  thou  Hkewise,"  say  the 
advocates  of  the  IMoral  Theory,  *'  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved ! " 

Now  this  theory  is  admirable  as  far  as  it  goes ;  but, 
unfortunately,  it  does  not  go  far  enough.  It  presents 
an  objective  view  of  holy  living  and  holy  dying  which, 
if  left  by  itself,  is  merely  a  tantalizing  mockery  to  im- 
potent men.  For  never  in  all  the  history  of  struggling 
humanity  has  one  been  able  to  live  like  Jesus  or  to  die 
like  Him. 

This  view  breaks  down  at  the  vital  point;  since  it 
offers  no  expiation  of  guilt,  no  vindication  of  law,  no 
reconciliation  with  God.  It  makes  no  disposition  of 
the  mislived  past.  And  what  becomes  of  "  the  hand- 
writing of  ordinances  that  was  against  us  ?  " 

It  fails  because  there  is  no  blood  in  it ;  and  "  with- 
out the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  It 
leaves  out  ransom,  expiation,  sacrifice;  and,  so  doing, 
it  fails  utterly  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  case. 

Its  failure  is  recognized  by  Dr.  Bushnell  himself 
who,  in  the  conclusion  of  his  volume  on  "  The  Vicar- 
ious Sacrifice,"  makes  the  following  pathetic  confes- 
sion of  its  utter  inadequacy : 

'Tn  the  facts  (of  our  Lord's  passion),'  outwardly 
regarded,  there  is  no  sacrifice,  or  oblation,  or  atone- 
ment, or  propitiation,  but  simply  a  living  and  dying 
thus  and  thus.  The  facts  are  impressive;  the  person 
is  clad  in  a  wonderful  dignity  and  beauty;  the  agony 
is  eloquent  of  love ;  and  the  Cross  a  very  shocking 
murder  triumphantly  met.  And  if  then  the  question 
arises,  how  we  are  to  use  such  a  history  so  as  to  be 


THE    ATONEMENT,    ETC.         117 

reconciled  by  it,  we  hardly  know  in  what  way  to  begin. 
How  shall  we  come  unto  God  by  help  of  this  martyr- 
dom? How  shall  we  turn  it,  or  turn  ourselves  under 
it,  so  as  to  be  justified  and  set  in  peace  with  God? 
Plainly  there  is  a  want  here,  and  this  want  is  met  by 
giving  a  thought- form  to  the  facts  which  is  not  in  the 
facts  themselves.  They  are  put  directly  into  the 
moulds  of  the  altar,  and  we  are  called  to  accept  the 
crucified  God-man  as  our  sacrifice,  an  offering  or  obla- 
tion for  us,  our  propitiation ;  so  as  to  be  sprinkled  from 
our  evil  conscience,  washed,  purged,  purified,  cleansed 
from  our  sin.  Instead  of  leaving  the  matter  of  the 
facts  just  as  they  occurred,  there  is  a  reverting  to  fa- 
miliar forms  of  thought,  made  familiar  partly  for  this 
purpose ;  and  we  are  told,  in  brief,  to  use  the  facts 
just  as  we  would  the  sin-offerings  of  the  altar,  and 
make  an  altar  grace  of  them,  only  a  grace  complete 
and  perfect,  an  offering  once  for  all.  ...  So  much 
is  there  in  this  that,  without  these  forms  of  the  altar, 
we  should  be  utterly  at  a  loss  in  making  any  use  of  the 
Christian  facts,  that  would  set  us  in  a  condition  of  prac- 
tical reconciliation  with  God.  Christ  is  good,  beauti- 
ful, wonderful ;  His  disinterested  love  is  a  picture  by 
itself ;  His  forgiving  patience  melts  into  my  feelings ; 
His  passion  rends  open  my  heart ;  but  what  is  He  for, 
and  how  shall  He  be  made  unto  me  the  salvation  I 
want?  One  word— HE  IS  MY  SACRIFICE— opens 
all  to  me,  and  beholding  Him,  with  all  my  sin  upon 
Him,  I  count  Him  my  offering.  I  come  unto  God  by 
Him  and  enter  into  the  holiest  by  His  blood." 

The  third  theory  of  the  Atonement  is  known  as  the 
Governmental  Theory. 

Its  chief  advocate  was  the  learned  Grotius,  whose 


118  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

views  were  antag-onized  by  the  Synod  of  Dort.  In  this 
theory  God  is  regarded  as  the  Moral  Governor  of  the 
universe,  who,  as  such,  cannot  allow  sin  to  go  unpun- 
ished, but  is  bound  to  vindicate  the  law.  He  does 
this  in  the  tragedy  of  the  Cross,  which  was  intended  to 
show,  once  for  all,  His  abhorrence  of  sin. 

In  this  view  the  Atonement  is  purely  didactic.  The 
great  lesson  which  it  teaches  is  that  God  hates  sin; 
hates  it  so  that  He  cries,  "Awake,  O  sword,  against 
my  fellow !  "  and  lays  its  frightful  burden  on  His 
well-beloved  Son.  In  this  He  is  alleged  to  present  an 
object  lesson  such  that  men,  beholding  it,  shall  be  filled 
with  abhorrence  and  cry,  "  Behold  what  sin  in  its 
ripeness  will  do !  "  The  ultimate  purpose  in  laying  this 
punishment  on  Jesus  is  to  reform  the  sinner  and  to 
protect  society  by  preventing  sin. 

But  observe,  such  an  Atonement  does  not  really 
touch  the  sinner's  sin  or  in  any  wise  dispose  of  it.  On 
the  contrary,  it  leaves  the  record  of  the  past  against 
him.  It  deals  with  sin  only  as  an  offense  against  soci- 
ety; taking  no  cognizance  of  its  intrinsic  sinfulness. 
It  treats  man  as  a  rabid  creature  that  must  be  cured 
or  killed  for  the  public  good.  Sin  as  such  has  no  con- 
nection with  penalty  as  such.  No  room  is  left  for 
David's  cry,  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according 
to  Thy  loving  kindness ;  and  according  unto  the  multi- 
tude of  Thy  tender  mercies  blot  out  my  transgressions ! 
Purge  me  with  hyssop  and  I  shall  be  clean ;  wash  me 
and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  The  theory  is 
wholly  inadequate  because  it  omits  the  vital  necessity 
of  sacrifice.  It  makes  the  death  of  Christ  a  glorious 
martyrdom,  not  an  expiation  of  sin. 

If,  in  pursuance  of  this  view,  there  is  to  be  any  real 


THE    ATONEMENT,    ETC.         119 

pardon  it  must  be  despite  the  law,  despite  justice  and 
despite  the  truth  of  God.  I  heard  a  "  liberal  "  preacher 
say,  in  a  recent  discourse,  "  God  requires  no  expiation 
as  antecedent  to  pardon.  He  is  distinctly  a  Father 
and  treats  us  in  that  way.  A  father  gives  his  boy  an 
example  in  arithmetic  to  do  upon  his  slate.  The  boy 
tries  in  vain,  again  and  again,  to  solve  it.  At  length 
he  comes,  slate  in  hand,  and  tearfully  confesses,  *  See, 
father ;  how  I  have  tried  and  failed ! '  Now  what 
does  this  father  do?  Demand  an  expiation?  O,  no. 
He  takes  the  sponge  and  erases  all  the  mistakes,  saying, 
*  Don't  worry,  my  boy ;  go  and  try  again.'  "  This 
might  answer  if  sin  were  only  a  ''  mistake."  It  might 
answer  if  there  were  no  sanctity  in  law,  and  if  God's 
truth  were  not  pledged  to  the  penal  consequences  of  sin. 
God  has  promised,  indeed,  to  blot  out  sin,  but  the 
sponge  with  which  He  erases  the  record  of  the  past  is 
a  sponge  dipped  in  blood ;  as  it  is  written,  ''  The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin ; "  and 
"  Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission." 

The  fourth  view  of  the  Atonement  is  that  which  has 
prevailed  from  time  immemorial  in  the  universal 
Church,  to  wit,  the  Substitutionary  Theory. 

Christ  in  the  Atonement  changed  places  with  us. 
He  stood  in  our  room  before  the  bar  of  justice.  ''  He 
was  wounded  for  our  transgressions  and  bruised  for 
our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
Him  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed."  This  view 
is  so  firmly  estabUshed  that  it  is  a  moral  certainty  that 
neither  the  sign-seeking  Jews  nor  the  wisdom-seeking 
Greeks,  will  ever  be  able  to  overthrow  it. 

( I )  To  begin  with,  it  rests  upon  a  Scriptural  basis. 
It  is  distinctly  in  line  with  the  red  trail  of  sacrifice 


120         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

which  runs  from  the  beginning  i.^  the  end  of  the  oracles 
of  God. 

No  sooner  had  man  sinned  than  the  protevangel  spoke 
of  the  ''  Seed  of  the  woman  "  suffering  for  sin.  The 
first  altar,  reared  by  the  close  gate  of  paradise,  prophe- 
sied of  the  slain  Lamb  of  God.  As  the  years  passed, 
the  prophets  declared,  with  ever-increasing  clearness 
and  particularity,  the  coming  sacrifice.  David  sang  of 
it  in  his  Messianic  psalms.  Isaiah  drew  the  portrait 
of  the  agonizing  Christ  as  if  he  were  gazing  on  the 
Cross :  ''  He  is  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with 
grief.  Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried 
our  sorrows.  And  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  in- 
iquity of  us  all."  The  same  truth  was  emphasized  by 
Moses,  Daniel,  Zechariah,  all  the  prophets  down  to 
Malachi,  who,  waving  his  torch  in  the  twilight  of  the 
long  darkness  which  closed  the  Old  Economy  said, 
*'  The  Sun  of  Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing 
in  His  wings !  "  Open  the  Book  where  we  will,  the 
face  of  Jesus,  so  marred  more  than  any  man's  yet  di- 
vinely beautiful,  looks  out  upon  us. 

This  view  alone  explains  the  blood  that  flowed  over 
the  altars  of  the  Old  Economy  and  the  repetitive 
prophecies  of  the  slain  Lamb.  The  rites  and  symbols 
of  the  Old  Testament  all  find  their  fulfillment  here. 
Their  centre  was  the  tabernacle.  Enter  it  and  observe 
how  it  is  everywhere  sprinkled  with  blood.  Here  is 
blood  flowing  down  the  brazen  altar,  blood  on  the 
ewer,  the  golden  candlestick,  the  table  of  shewbread, 
the  altar  of  incense ;  blood  on  the  floor,  the  ceiling,  on 
posts  and  pillars,  on  knops  and  blossoms,  everywhere. 
Lift  the  curtain  and  pass  into  the  holiest  of  all — but 
not  without  blood  on  your  palms.     Here  is  blood  on 


THE   ATONEMENT,    ETC.         121 

the  ark  of  the  covenant,  blood  on  the  mercy-seat — 
blood,  blood  everywhere.  What  does  it  mean  ?  Noth- 
ing, absolutely  nothing,  unless  it  declares  the  necessity 
of  the  Cross. 

This  view  alone  explains  the  teachings  of  Jesus  as 
to  the  necessity  of  His  being  "  lifted  up,"  and  His 
announcement  that  He  was  to  "  give  His  life  a  ran- 
som for  many."  This  alone  furnishes  the  key  to  the 
elaborate  arguments  of  Paul  and  the  other  apostles 
respecting  the  appointed  method  of  reconciliation  with 
God. 

It  is  vain  to  reply  that  man  needs  no  reconciliation ; 
since  "  the  carnal  mind  is  at  enmity  with  God."  And 
it  is  equally  vain  to  say  that  God  needs  no  reconcilia- 
tion ;  for  He  is  "  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day." 
The  throne  of  reconciliation  is  at  Calvary;  where  the 
God-man  uplifting  one  pierced  hand  to  heaven  and 
stretching  the  other  downward  to  the  earth,  brings  a 
sinful  but  penitent  man  and  a  loving  but  justly  offended 
God  into  a  sweet  and  eternal  at-one-ment. 

(2)  The  Substitutionary  view  of  the  Atonement  is 
rational.  No  view  of  this  or  of  any  other  doctrine  can 
be  permanently  acceptable  which  is  not  consistent  with 
common  sense ;  that  is,  the  reason  of  the  average  man. 
Wherefore,  God  says  to  the  sinner  in  anticipation  of 
the  vicarious  sacrifice,  "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason 
together;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall 
be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson, 
they  shall  be  as  wool  "  (Isa.  i :  18).  The  words  "  Let 
us  reason  together  "  are  significant ;  as  if  God,  in  in- 
finite condescension,  were  to  say,  "  Sit  thou  there  and 
I  here,  and  let  us  talk  this  matter  over."  It  is  thus 
that  He  commends  the  true  doctrine  to  sinful  men; 


122        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

and  the  great  multitude  of  the  redeemed  pay  tribute 
to  its  reasonableness,  singing  as  they  encircle  the  throne, 
'*  Worthy  art  Thou  to  receive  honour  and  glory  and 
power  and  dominion  ;  for  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast 
redeemed  us  by  Thy  blood."     (Rev.  vii:9-i7). 

(3)  This  view  of  the  Atonement  is  effective.  It 
disposes  of  every  valid  objection  that  could  prevent  a 
sinner's  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If  he 
were  to  present  himself  at  the  gate  of  The  Law,  cry- 
ing, "  Open  unto  me !  "  a  voice  from  within  would  an- 
swer, ''  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die !  "  If  he 
were  to  present  himself  at  the  gate  of  Justice,  a  voice 
would  say,  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap !  "  If  at  the  gate  of  Holiness,  "  Without 
holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord !  "  But  let  him 
knock  at  the  gate  called  "  Mercy ;  "  and  it  will  open 
wide;  and  the  voice  of  the  Lord  Himself  will  say, 
''  Enter  in !  I  have  died  for  thee.  I  have  fulfilled  the 
Law  and  vindicated  Justice  in  thy  behalf.  I  have  im- 
puted unto  thee  the  Righteousness  which  is  by  faith. 
Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord !  "  Thus  it  is 
written,  ''  What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was 
weak  through  the  flesh,  God  sending  His  own  Son  in 
the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin 
in  the  flesh,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might 
be  fulfilled  in  us." 

(4)  The  simplicity  of  this  view  of  the  Atonement 
commends  it.  And  let  it  be  said  here  that  no  theory 
of  the  Atonement  which  is  not  simple  can,  by  any  pos- 
sibility, be  true.  Our  religion  is  not  for  philosophers, 
but  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  It  rests  upon 
no  proposition  which  requires  the  controversial  agony 
of  nineteen  centuries  to  elaborate  and  formulate  it. 


THE   ATONEMENT,    ETC.  123 

Its  path  to  heaven  is  so  plain  that  a  "  wayfaring  man 
though  a  fool  need  not  err  therein"   (Isa.  xxxv:8). 

The  most  lamentable  case  of  spiritual  ignorance  that 
I  have  ever  known  was  that  of  a  boy  of  sixteen  years 
whom  I  was  called  to  see  on  his  deathbed.  He  was 
conscious  of  sin  and  troubled  by  a  certain  fearful  look- 
ing-for of  judgment,  but  he  knew  absolutely  nothing  of 
Christ.  I  told  him  the  story  of  the  Cross  as  simply  as 
I  could;  then  I  read  the  Fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  with 
portions  of  the  Third  of  John  and  the  Eighth  of 
Romans ;  presenting,  as  clearly  as  possible,  the  fact 
that  Jesus  had  borne  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the 
tree.  The  boy  asked  faintly,  "  But  what  must  I  do  ?  " 
The  old,  old  question  !  I  answered,  "  Only  believe ;  be 
wilHng  to  be  saved  that  way."  He  then  said,  "  Go 
away  now.  I  think  I  have  it.  But  don't  say  anything 
more  or  you'll  mix  me  up.  Come  to-morrow."  When 
I  returned  the  next  day,  the  mother  met  me  wringing 
her  hands  :  the  boy  had  died  in  the  night.  But  he  died 
murmuring  softly  to  himself,  "  Jesus  !  Jesus  !  Jesus  !  " 
So  sinners  enter  into  glory  :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  Except  ye  become  as  this  little  child  ye  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

In  any  case,  it  is  obvious  that  we  are  to  receive  the 
doctrine  of  the  Atonement  as  God  has  been  pleased  to 
reveal  it.  The  Scriptures  are  ultimate,  here ;  it  be- 
hooves us  to  receive  whatsoever  they  say,  adding  noth- 
ing to  it  and  subtracting  nothing  from  it.  One  of  the 
conspicuous  illustrations  of  this  doctrine  in  the  Old 
Economy,  was  the  scape-goat.  The  High-Priest  laid 
his  hands  upon  its  head,  as  if  placing  there  the  sins  of 
the  people ;  after  which  it  was  led  "  by  a  fit  man  " 
into  "  the  land  of  Azazel,"     The  rabbis  say  that  the  fit 


124         CHRIST    AND   PROGRESS 

man  cast  the  goat  over  a  high  diff ;  if  so,  he  did  more 
than  he  was  required  to  do.  Let  it  suffice  that  the  goat 
was  led  away  to  Azazel,  to  No-man's  Land,  to  the 
Land  of  Forgetfulness.  See  it  vanishing  from  sight 
in  the  distance !  Thus  do  our  sins  pass  into  obUvion : 
so  that  God  remembers  them  no  more  against  us. 

But  the  one  object-lesson  of  the  Atonement  which 
is  presented  all  through  the  Scriptures  is  the  Lamb  of 
God.  The  suggestion  of  the  lamb  involves  the  inevit- 
able thought  of  sacrifice.  "  The  Lamb  of  God  "  sug- 
gests the  divine  origin  of  redemption  and  the  offering 
of  the  only-begotten  One.  "  The  Lamb  slain  "  necessi- 
tates the  thought  of  Atoning  blood.  And  the  word 
"  Behold  "  sets  forth  the  vital  relation  of  this  doctrine 
to  the  soul  of  a  man.  Look  and  live !  He  that  be- 
lieveth  shall  be  saved.  Wherefore,  whatever  else  we 
may  contemplate,  in  all  the  realm  of  human  thought 
and  experience,  let  us  with  open  eyes  and  compre- 
hending soul  "  behold  the  Lamb  of  God." 


X 

JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH 

THE  name  by  which  the  early  Christians  were 
familiarly  known  was  '*  The  People  of  that 
Way."  In  the  year  36  the  Sanhedrin  issued 
a  commission  to  Saul  of  Tarsus  authorizing  him  to 
arrest  any  whom  he  might  find  ''  of  the  Way,  whether 
they  were  men  or  women,  and  to  bring  them  bound 
unto  Jerusalem  "  (Acts  ix :  2).  In  the  year  58,  twenty- 
two  years  later,  the  same  Saul,  now  an  apostle  of 
Christ,  made  a  defense  from  the  steps  of  the  castle 
of  Antonia,  in  which  he  said,  "  I  persecuted  this  Way 
unto  the  death,  binding  and  delivering  into  prison 
both  men  and  women  "  (Acts  xxii :  4). 

The  name  thus  given  to  the  followers  of  Christ  is 
significant  for  many  reasons.  The  question  has  been 
raised  in  some  quarters  as  to  whether  religion  is 
dogma  or  life.  In  fact,  our  religion  in  the  last  reduc- 
tion is  neither  dogma  nor  life;  it  is  a  Way  from  sin 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Its  bedrock  is  truth,  its 
pavement  is  character,  its  destination  is  eternal  life. 

It  is  a  plain  Way ;  as  indicated  in  the  prophecy,  ^'  A 
Highway  shall  be  there  and  a  Way,  and  it  shall  be  called 
the  Way  of  Holiness;  the  wayfaring  man  though  a 
fool  shall  not  err  therein." 

It  is  an  old  Way :  "  This  is  the  Way  the  prophets 
went ;  the  Way  that  leads  from  banishment."  Old : 
yet  never  to  be  superseded ;    having  been  adjusted  in 

125 


126         CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

the  beginning  to  the  needs  of  all  ages  and  generations 
of  sinners.  Wherefore,  progress  can  never  improve 
upon  it. 

Let  it  be  said  at  the  outset  that  one  thing  only  is 
needful  in  order  to  become  a  follower  of  Christ;  to 
wit,  that  one  should  believe  in  Him,  but,  before  we 
come  to  that,  we  must  touch  upon  a  matter  of  pre- 
liminary importance. 

Preliminary 

A  man  must  repent  before  he  believes  in  Christ 
(Mark  i:i5).  Now  repentance  is  not  in  itself  a  sav- 
ing grace,  having  value  only  as  it  leads  to  something 
further  on.  The  pain  of  a  physical  malady  has  no 
curative  virtue;  but  it  is  this  pain  that  inclines  the 
patient  to  ring  the  doctor's  bell.  So  John  the  Baptist 
goes  before  Christ  with  his  cry,  "  Repent  ye !  "  since 
without  repentance  there  is  no  adequate  sense  of  need, 
nor  disposition  to  accept  Christ. 

We  must  get  a  clear  understanding  of  repentance. 
It  suggests  at  the  outset,  an  apprehension  of  sin  as  a 
fact;  not  a  figment  of  the  imagination,  not  ''  a  belief 
of  mortal  mind ; "  not  an  infection  due  to  environment, 
and  therefore  involving  no  personal  accountability; 
but  a  distinct,  flagrant  violation  of  holy  law,  by  which 
the  sinner  is  brought  into  rebellion  against  God. 

And  sin  must  be  apprehended,  furthermore,  as  a 
calamitous  fact,  that  is,  involving  an  adequate  penalty : 
''  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  A  true  penitent 
recognizes  the  justice  of  the  punishment  which  is  im- 
posed upon  him ;  as  did  the  repentant  thief,  when  he 
said   to  his   comrade,    "  We   indeed   are   condemned 


JUSTIFICATION    BY   FAITH      127 

justly."  One  who  spends  his  time  in  trying  to  explain 
away  hell  and  "  the  unquenchable  fire  "  and  "  the  worm 
that  dieth  not,"  is  not  a  penitent  man. 

And  sin  must  be  furthermore  recognized  as  a  con- 
crete or  personal  fact.  It  is  not  enough  to  acknowl- 
edge the  incontrovertible  presence  of  sin  in  the  world 
around  us.  The  important  thing  is,  that  this  sin  in- 
heres in  me.  So  David  prayed,  "  Have  mercy  upon 
me,  O  God,  according  unto  Thy  lovingkindness ;  for 
I  have  sinned  and  done  this  evil  in  Thy  sight."  He 
had  always  known,  in  general  terms,  that  adultery  was 
a  fearful  thing;  but  when  it  pointed  its  gaunt  finger 
at  him  in  the  watches  of  the  night  and  hissed,  "Bath- 
sheba ! "  it  brought  him  to  his  knees. 

And  this  conviction  of  sin  must  be  followed  by  a 
resolution  to  forsake  it.  The  true  penitent  fears  his 
sin,  hates  it,  loathes  it,  abhors  it,  and  determines  to 
quit  it. 

But  observe,  all  this  is  merely  preliminary  to  the 
one  thing  needful.  There  is  no  virtue  in  repentance 
per  se.  The  penitent  is  not  saved ;  he  has  only  dis- 
covered his  need  of  salvation.  He  knows  his  malady; 
now  how  shall  he  be  cured  of  it?  To  pause  here  is 
death.  One  in  a  sinking  boat  must  not  be  satisfied 
with  stopping  the  leak;  the  boat  must  be  baled  out. 
A  man  head-over-ears  in  debt  cannot  recover  his  credit 
by  resolving  to  pay  cash  in  the  future ;  he  must  some- 
how cancel  his  past  obligations.  If  a  penitent  were 
never  to  commit  another  sin,  the  "  handwriting  of  or- 
dinances "  would  still  be  against  him.  The  record  of 
the  past  remains ;  and  it  will  confront  him  in  the  Judg- 
ment unless  it  be  disposed  of.  The  past !  The  mi's- 
lived  past!     What  shall  be  done  about  it? 


128         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

This  brings  us  to  the  matter  in  hand :  What  shall 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?  or  How  shall  I  become  a  Christian  ? 

The  One  Thing  Needful 

Our  Lord  at  the  beginning  of  His  ministry  said  to 
Nicodemus,  ''  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  helieveth  on 
Him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
And  to  make  the  matter  perfectly  clear  to  this  learned 
rabbi,  He  resorted  to  the  kindergarten  method,  using 
an  object  lesson :  "As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted 
up  (that  is,  crucified),  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  So  the 
one  thing  needful  is  to  believe  in  Christ. 

The  same  truth  was  repeated  over  and  over  in  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  and  of  His  disciples  as  well.  To 
the  jailer  of  Philippi  who,  in  sudden  conviction,  was 
moved  to  cry,  *'  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  the  answer  of  Paul 
was,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved." 

But  what  is  it  to  "  believe  in  Christ  ?  "  It  is  easy 
to  say,  ''  Corr^e  to  Christ "  and  ''Accept  Christ "  and 
**  Believe  in  Him ;  "  but  just  here  occurs  the  bewilder- 
ment. These  are  oftentimes  mere  shop-worn  phrases 
to  the  unsaved,  however  simple  they  may  appear  to 
those  who  have  entered  on  the  Christian  life. 

To  believe  in  Christ  is,  Urst,  to  credit  the  historic 
record  of  His  life.  Once  on  a  time  He  lived  among 
men,  preached,  wrought  miracles,  suffered  and  died  on 
the  accursed  tree.  So  far  all  will  agree ;  but  there  is 
clearly  no  saving  virtue  in  an  intellectual  acceptance  of 
an  undisputed  fact. 


JUSTIFICATION    BY   FAITH      129 

It  means,  second,  to  believe  that  Jesus  was  what  He 
claimed  to  be.  And  His  claim  is  perfectly  clear.  To 
the  woman  of  Samaria  who  sighed  for  the  coming  of 
Messiah  He  said,  "  I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  He." 
No  reader  of  the  Scripture  could  misunderstand  His 
meaning,  since  the  prophecy  of  the  Messiah  runs  like  a 
golden  thread  through  all  its  pages  from  the  prote- 
vangel,  ''  The  Seed  of  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's 
head,"  to  the  prediction  of  Malachi,  "  The  Sun  of 
Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  His  beams." 

But,  more  than  this,  Jesus  claimed  that  as  Messiah 
He  was  the  only-begotten  and  coequal  Son  of  God. 
He  came  forth  from  God  and,  after  finishing  His  work, 
was  to  return  to  God  and  reassume  *'  the  glory  which 
He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was,"  it 
was  this  oft-repeated  assertion  which  so  mortally  of- 
fended the  Jews  as  to  occasion  His  arrest  on  the  charge 
of  blasphemy.  He  persisted  in  His  claim,  and  was  put 
to  death  for  ''  making  Himself  equal  to  God."  It 
must  be  seen,  therefore,  that  no  man  can  be  said  to 
believe  in  Christ  who  is  not  prepared  to  affirm,  without 
demur  or  qualification,  that  He  was  what  He  claimed 
to  be. 

It  means,  third,  to  believe  that  Jesus  did  what  He 
said  He  came  into  the  world  to  do.  And  here  again 
there  can  be  no  doubt  or  peradventure.  He  said 
"  The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many." 
His  death  was  to  be  the  purchase-price  of  redemption. 
In  the  Wilderness  He  was  tempted  to  turn  aside  from 
His  great  purpose.  The  adversary  led  Him  to  a  high 
place,  and  with  a  wave  of  his  hand,  directed  His 
thought  to  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  saying,  ''All 


130         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

these  are  mine.  I  know  Thy  purpose :  Thou  art  come 
to  win  this  world  by  dying  for  it.  Why  pay  so  great 
a  price?  I  know  Thy  fear  and  trembUng — for  Thou 
art  flesh — in  view  of  the  nails,  the  fever,  the  dreadful 
exposure,  the  long  agony.  Why  pay  so  great  price? 
I  am  the  prince  of  this  world.  One  act  of  homage, 
and  I  will  abdicate.  Fall  down  and  worship  me ! " 
Never  before  or  since  has  there  been  such  a  temptation, 
so  specious,  so  alluring.  But  Jesus  had  covenanted  to 
die  for  sinners.  He  knew  there  was  no  other  way  of 
accomplishing  salvation  for  them.  He  could  not  be 
turned  aside  from  the  work  which  He  had  volunteered 
to  do.  Therefore  He  put  away  the  suggestion  with 
the  word,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan !  I  cannot  be 
moved !  I  know  the  necessity  that  is  laid  upon  Me. 
I  know  that  My  way  to  the  kingdom  is  only  by  the 
Cross.  I  am  therefore  resolved  to  suffer  and  die  for 
the  deliverance  of  men." 

On  a  later  occasion,  on  His  way  to  Jerusalem — that 
memorable  journey  of  which  it  is  written,  "  He  set  His 
face  steadfastly  "  to  go  toward  the  Cross — He  spoke 
to  His  disciples  of  His  death.  He  had  been  with  them 
now  three  years,  but  had  not  been  able  fully  to  reveal 
His  mission,  because  they  were  "  not  strong  enough 
to  bear  it."  A  man  with  friends,  yet  friendless,  lonely 
in  the  possession  of  His  great  secret.  He  had  longed 
to  give  them  His  full  confidence,  but  dared  not.  Now, 
as  they  journeyed  southward  through  Csesarea  Philippi, 
He  asked  them,  '*  Who  do  men  say  that  I  am  ?  "  And 
they  answered,  "  Some  say  John  the  Baptist ;  others, 
Elias ;  others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  Prophets."  And 
He  saith,  "  But  who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  "  Then  Peter 
— ^brave,  impulsive,  glorious  Peter — witnessed  his  good 


JUSTIFICATION    BY   FAITH      131 

confession  :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Hving 
God !  "  The  hour  had  come.  His  disciples  were  be- 
ginning to  know  Him.  He  would  give  them  His  full 
confidence.  So  as  they  journeyed  on  toward  Jerusa- 
lem He  told  them  all  how  He  had  come  to  redeem  the 
world  by  bearing  its  penalty  of  death ;  "  He  began  to 
show  them  how  He  must  suffer  many  things  of  the 
elders  and  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  be  killed."  At 
that  point  Peter  could  hold  his  peace  no  longer,  but 
began  to  rebuke  Him,  saying,  "  Be  it  far  from  Thee, 
Lord!  To  suffer?  To  die?  Nay,  to  reign  in  Mes- 
sianic splendour  !  "  And  Jesus  turning,  said  unto  him, 
*'  Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan !  " — the  very  words  with 
which  He  had  repelled  the  same  suggestion  in  the  wil- 
derness. As  He  looked  on  His  disciple.  He  saw  not 
Peter,  but  Satan — perceived  how  the  adversary  had  for 
the  moment  taken  possession,  as  it  were,  of  this  man's 
brain  and  conscience  and  lips.  "  Get  thee  behind  Me, 
Satan !  I  know  thee !  I  recognize  thy  crafty  sugges- 
tion; but  I  am  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  My  pur- 
pose. Get  thee  behind  Me !  Thou  art  an  offense  unto 
Me.  Thy  words  are  not  of  divine  wisdom,  but  of 
human  policy.  Thou  savourest  not  the  things  that  be 
of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men ! " 

From  this  we  conclude  that  the  vicarious  death  of 
Jesus  is  the  vital  centre  of  His  Gospel,  and  that  any 
word  which  contravenes  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  satanic 
suggestion.  It  follows  that  no  man  can  truly  believe 
in  Christ  without  assenting  to  the  fact  that  the  saving 
power  is  in  His  death ;  as  it  is  written,  "  The  blood  o% 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  and,  "  Without 
the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  He  came 
into  the  world  to  die  for  sinners,  that  they  by  His 


132        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

death  might  enter  into  Hfe ;  He  came  to  take  our  place 
before  the  bar  of  the  offended  Law,  to  be  "  wounded 
for  our  transgressions  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities, 
that  by  His  stripes  we  might  be  healed ;  "  He  came 
to  "  bear  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree ; "  and 
to  believe  in  Christ  is  to  believe  that  He  did  what  He 
came  to  do. 

It  means,  fourth — and  now  we  come  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  matter — to  believe  that  Christ  means  precisely 
what  He  says.  He  says  to  the  sinner,  "  The  Son  of 
Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins."  He  says, 
"  Him  that  cometh  unto  Me,  I  vvill  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
He  says,  "  He  that  believeth  in  Me  hath  everlasting 
life."  At  this  point  belief  means  personal  appropria- 
tion; acceptance,  immediate,  here,  now.  It  is  to  make 
an  end  of  doubt  and  perplexity  and  all  questioning,  by 
closing  in  with  the  overtures  of  divine  mercy.  It  is  to 
lay  dovv'n  one's  arms  and  make  an  unconditional  sur- 
render. It  is  to  take  the  proffered  hand  of  the  Sa- 
viour in  an  everlasting  covenant  of  peace.  It  is  to  say, 
"  My  Lord,  my  life,  my  sacrifice,  my  Saviour  and 
my  all !  " 

But  just  here  is  where  many  hesitate  and  fail.  They 
do  not  **  screw  their  courage  to  the  sticking  point." 
They  come  up  to  the  line,  but  do  not  take  the  step 
that  crosses  it.  They  do  not  summon  resolution  to 
say,  ''  I  will !  "  They  put  away  the  outstretched  hand, 
and  so  fall  short  of  salvation. 

The  will  must  act.  The  prodigal  in  the  far  country 
will  stay  there  forever  unless  his  resolution  cries,  "  I 
will  arise  and  go !  "  The  resolution  is  an  appropriat- 
ing act.  It  makes  Christ  mine ;  it  links  my  soul  with 
His,  as  the  coupler  binds  the  locomotive  to  the  loaded 


JUSTIFICATION   BY    FAITH     133 

train.     It  grasps  His  outstretched  hand ;    it  seals  the 
compact  and  inspires  the  song: 

'Tis    done,    the    great    transaction's    done, 

I  am  my  Lord's  and  He  is  mine! 
He  drew  me,  and  I   followed  on, 
Charmed  to  confess  the  voice  divine. 

High  heaven  that  hears  the  solemn  vow, 
That  vow  renewed  shall  daily  hear; 

Till  in  life's  latest  hour  I  bow 
And  bless  in  death  a  bond  so  dear! 

Now  this  is  all.  The  man  who  really  believes  on 
Christ  is  saved  by  that  alone.  He  can  never  be  lost. 
As  Rowland  Hill  used  to  say,  "  We  two  are  so  joined. 
He  can't  be  in  glory  and  leave  me  behind."  But  sal- 
vation from  the  penalty  of  sin  is  not  the  whole  of  sal- 
vation ;  only  the  beginning  of  it. 

The  Sequel 

The  sequel  to  "  becoming  a  Christian  "  is  following 
Christ.  "  Salvation  "  is  a  large  word,  including  growth 
in  character  and  usefulness  and  all  the  high  attain- 
ments which  are  included  in  a  genuine  Christian  life. 
This  is  what  Paul  means  when  he  says,  "  Work  out 
your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is 
God  that  worketh  in  you."  Work  it  out!  Work 
your  salvation  out  to  its  uttermost  possibilities !  Be  a 
maximum  Christian  ;  not  content  with  being  saved  "  so 
as  by  fire  "  but  craving  "  an  abundant  entrance  "  into 
the  kingdom.  All  this  is  accomplished  in  the  close 
and  faithful  following  of  Christ. 


134       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

This  "  following  "  is  the  sure  test  and  touchstone  by 
which  a  man  determines  whether  he  has  really  come  to 
Christ  and  believes  in  Him.  Our  ''  good  works  "  are 
not  meritorious  as  having  any  part  in  our  deliverance 
from  condemnation ;  but  they  are  the  acid-test  of  our 
faith ;  and  they  also  determine  the  quality  of  the  heaven 
that  awaits  us.  And,  in  this  sense,  "  they  shall  in  no 
wise  lose  their  reward."  To  use  a  rude  figure;  a 
man  going  to  an  entertainment  gets  a  ticket  of  admis- 
sion, but  for  his  reserved  seat  he  pays  something  more. 
"  The  just  shall  live  by  faith;  "  but  the  abundance  of 
their  life  is  determined  by  the  product  of  their  faith. 
Wherefore,  he  loses  much  who,  while  believing  in 
Christ,  follows  Him  afar  off. 

To  follow  Christ  at  the  best,  means  to  regard  Him 
as  our  Priest,  our  only  Priest,  whose  sacrifice  is  full 
and  sufficient  for  us.  We  forsake  all  other  plans  of 
salvation  and  trust  simply  and  solely  to  the  merit  of 
His  atoning  blood. 

To  follow  Christ  means  to  regard  Him  as  our  only 
Prophet,  or  Teacher.  All  preachers,  ecclesiastical 
councils,  historic  creeds  and  symbols  are  remanded  to 
a  subordinate  place.     His  word  is  ultimate  for  us. 

To  follow  Christ  means  to  regard  Him  as  our  King. 
He  reigns  in  us  and  over  us.  His  love  constrains  us. 
His  wish  is  our  law.  His  authority  is  final.  "  What- 
soever He  saith  unto  you,  do  it." 

And  to  follow  Christ  means  to  do  all  this  in  the 
open.  It  may  be  that  some  who  refuse  to  confess 
Christ  are  ultimately  saved  by  Him ;  but  the  presump- 
tion is  immensely  against  the  man  who  lives  that  way. 
''  Stand  forth  into  the  midst ! "  "Quit  thyself  like  a 
man ! " 


JUSTIFICATION    BY   FAITH      135 

But  now  we  return  to  iterate  and  reiterate  the  prop- 
osition that  our  salvation  from  sin  and  spiritual  death 
is  by  faith  in  Christ  and  by  that  only.  Let  no  side 
issues  enter  here  to  confuse  and  bewilder  us.  Let  not 
the  simplicity  of  the  proceeding  offend  us.  ''  He  that 
believeth  shall  be  saved." 

That  is  final  and  conclusive.  Our  deliverance  is 
wholly  of  grace :  we  do  not  earn  it.  "  The  wages  of  sin 
is  death :  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life." 

Long  as  I   live,   I'll  still  be  crying, 
Mercy's  free! 

And  therefore  all  the  glory  is  unto  God :  "  Of  whom 
are  we  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  made  unto  us  wisdom 
and  righteousness  and  sanctification  and  redemption, 
that,  according  as  it  is  written,  if  any  man  glory,  let 
him  glory  in  the  Lord." 

Nevertheless,  the  benefit  of  the  gift  is  conditioned 
on  our  acceptance  of  it.  The  manna  lies  about  our 
feet  "  white  and  plenteous  as  hoar  frost,"  but  it  will  not 
save  us  from  famishing  unless  we  gather  it  up  and 
eat  it.  The  water  gushes  from  the  rock,  but  we  shall 
die  of  thirst  unless  we  dip  it  up  and  drink  it.  Christ 
on  the  Cross  saves  no  man ;  it  is  only  when  Christ  is 
appropriated  that  He  saves  us.  We  must  make  Him 
ours.  We  must  grasp  His  extended  hand.  Luther 
said,  "  The  important  thing  is  the  possessive  pronoun, 
first  person  singular."  One  of  the  early  fathers  said, 
"  It  is  the  grip  on  the  blood  that  saves  us."  Christ 
stands  waiting — He  offers  life  for  the  taking.  Who 
will  have  it?  The  worst  of  sinners  can  make  it  his 
very  own  by  saying  with  all  his  heart,  "  I  will !  I  do  I " 


TWO  EDDIES  OF  ERROR 


The  owlet  Atheism, 
Sailing  on  obscene  wings  across  the  moon, 
Drops   his  be-fringed  lids  and  shuts  them  close. 
And,  hooting  at  the  glorious  sun  in  Heaven, 
Cries  out,  "Where  is  it?'' 

Coleridge 


XI 

BAALISM,    THE  DENIAL  OF  THE 
FATHER 

BAALISM  was  introduced  into  Israel  about  900 
B.  C.  and  soon  crowded  aside  the  ancestral 
faith.  Its  rites  and  ceremonies  were  magnifi- 
cent. The  Court  was  captivated;  and  the  people  fol- 
lowed the  fashion.  The  temple  of  Jehovah  was  for- 
saken; the  hill-tops  blazed  with  the  sacrificial  fires  of 
Baal.  The  nation  bowed  the  knee  and  kissed  the  hand 
before  him. 

The  ostensible  head  and  defender  of  the  new  faith 
was  Ahab,  the  king.  He  was,  however,  a  mere  figure- 
head ;  being  with  all  his  bravado,  a  weak  and  irresolute 
man.  The  power  back  of  Ahab  was  his  Phoenician 
wife,  Jezebel,  a  strong-minded  woman,  the  Lady  Mac- 
beth of  her  time.  And  back  of  her  was  her  distin- 
guished father,  Ethbaal,  the  royal  priest  of  Phoenicia 
(I  Kings  xvi:30,  31). 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  think  of  this  man 
Ethbaal  as  the  representative  of  an  inferior  civilization. 
Phoenicia  was  the  most  thrifty,  progressive  and  accom- 
plished of  the  nations.  Its  people  were  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  their  time.  They  originated  our  alpha- 
bet. They  controlled  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
They  exchanged  commodities  with  Ophir ;  they  worked 
the  silver  mines  of  far-distant  Spain.  They  easily  led 
the  nations  in  their  acquaintance  with  the  industrial 
and  liberal  arts. 

139 


140         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

To-day  Phoenicia  is  a  land  of  imposing  ruins;  its 
spendid  cities  are  identified  by  mounds  of  broken  shafts 
and  marble  tesserae.  A  recent  writer  says,  "  In  my 
journey  from  Achsid  to  the  fountains  of  Tyre,  I  did 
not  see  a  living  face."  Yet  this  was  once  the  centre 
of  the  world's  civilization.  In  the  closing  paragraph 
of  Gibbon's  essay  on  "  The  Crusades,"  he  says,  "  A 
mournful  and  solitary  silence  now  prevails  along  the 
shore  which  once  resounded  to  the  world's  debate." 
Let  it  be  observed,  however,  that  though  the  scene 
of  "  the  world's  debate  "  is  thus  given  over  to  the  owl 
and  the  bittern,  the  debate  goes  on. 

Baalism  still  flourishes  in  the  earth  like  a  green 
bay  tree.  It  speaks  as  of  old  with  loud  swelling  words 
and  denounces  the  religion  of  the  fathers  as  old-fash- 
ioned and  worn  out.  The  standpoint  has  shifted  again 
and  again ;  but  the  spirit,  principles  and  methods  of 
Baalism  have  not  budged  an  inch  in  the  last  three  thou- 
sand years.  In  his  time,  Ethbaal  was  its  high  priest  and 
authoritative  expositor.  The  name  means  "  favourite  or 
Baal."  He  was  a  man  of  singular  power  and  attain- 
ments ;  he  dictated  the  religious  policy  not  only  of 
Phoenicia  but  of  Jewry  as  well.  It  mattered  not  that 
the  steps  of  his  throne  were  slippery  with  his  brother's 
blood ;  he  was,  according  to  his  standards,  an  eminently 
religious  man. 

If  he  had  been  asked  to  define  and  characterize 
Baalism,  he  would  probably  have  answered  without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  "  It  is  the  scientiilc  religion  of  our 
time;  "  a  claim  which  is  made  nowadays  by  every  form 
of  Freethought  or  Liberalism  as  against  the  religion  of 
the  true  God.  In  fact,  however,  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  "  scientific  religion."  Neither  is  there  any  antag- 
onism between  science  and  religion. 


BAALISM  141 

Truth  is  a  straight  Hne.  A  straight  Hne  is  defined 
to  be  "  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points." 
And  truth  is  the  rectiHnear  road  between  this  world 
and  heaven.  On  one  side  and  parallel  with  it  runs 
science,  which  in  its  broadest  sense  embraces  all  the 
boundless  fields  of  knowledge,  but  in  its  restricted 
meaning  has  reference  only  to  that  body  of  truth  which 
is  demonstrated  by  the  evidence  of  the  physical 
senses. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Hne  and  parallel  with  it  runs 
religion;  that  is,  the  body  of  truth  which  is  demon- 
strated to  the  sixth  or  spiritual  sense.  Now  science  has 
no  means  of  investigating  the  great  verities  which  lie 
beyond  the  province  of  the  physical  senses ;  nor  can 
religious  truth  be  demonstrated  otherwise  than  by  faith, 
which  is  the  spiritual  sense ;  as  it  is  written,  "  Spiritual 
things  are  spiritually  discerned." 

It  must  be  apparent,  therefore,  since  science  on  the 
one  hand  and  religion  on  the  other  are  mutually  par- 
allel, as  they  are  parallel  with  the  intermediate  line  of 
truth,  that  they  cannot  be  antagonistic  in  any  way. 
This  is  in  accordance  with  the  Eleventh  Axiom  of 
Euclid,  which  runs  on  this  wise :  "  Two  straight  lines, 
which  intersect  one  another,  cannot  be  parallel  to  the 
same  straight  line."  And  Euclid's  definition  of  parallel 
lines  is  as  follows :  "  They  are  such  as  being  in  the 
same  plane  will  never  meet  though  they  be  produced 
ever  so  far."  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  science  and 
religion,  though  in  the  same  plane,  cannot  intersect 
each  other,  "  though  they  be  produced  ever  so  far." 

Of  course  this  does  not  apply  to  zigzag  and  there- 
fore spurious  forms  of  religion ;  nor  to  the  various 
forms  of  quasi-science,  which  are  characterized  by  Paul 
as  "  science  falsely  so-called."      Pseudo-science  may 


142         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

always  be  recognized  by  its  persistent  trespassing  upon 
the  preserve  of  religion,  whose  tenets  can  only  be 
apprehended  by  faith. 

It  is  no  derogation  to  science  to  say  that  a  scientist 
is  not  ipso  facto  a  religious  man.  So  long  as  he  ad- 
dresses himself  to  the  testimony  of  the  physical  senses, 
he  is  sure  to  acquire  a  vast  treasure  of  material  truth ; 
but  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  how  this  has  any  moral 
influence  over  him,  except  as  it  drives  him  to  the  exer- 
cise of  the  sixth  sense,  by  which  alone  we  prove  our- 
selves worthy  of  our  divine  birthright.  "  I  thank  Thee, 
Father  in  heaven,"  cried  Kepler  the  astronomer,  "  that 
I  am  able  to  think  Thy  thoughts  after  Thee !  "  It  is  well 
indeed  for  a  man  to  use  his  physical  senses ;  for  as  Solo- 
mon said,  *'  The  wise  man's  eyes  are  in  his  head,  while 
a  fool  walketh  in  darkness ;  "  but  he  who  declines  to 
exercise  faith  as  to  the  things  which  are  "  unseen  and 
eternal  "  is  untrue  to  himself  as  a  man  made  in  the 
likeness  of  God. 

If  further  inquiry  had  been  made  of  Ethbaal  as  to 
the  character  of  Baalism,  he  would  have  pronounced  it 
preeminently  the  Religion  of  Nature.  Its  primal  ques- 
tion was,  "  Whence  ?  "  The  intuitive  syllogism  runs  on 
this  wise :  First  Premise,  Here  is  the  present  order 
of  things.  Second  Premise,  Out  of  nothing,  nothing 
comes :  Ergo,  There  must  have  been  a  First  Cause. 
Now  Baal  stood  for  this  First  Cause,  corresponding  to 
such  modern  terms  as  Law,  Energy  and  "  the  Soul  of 
the  Universe." 

"But,"  we  ask,  "what  means  this  great  image?" 
The  high  priest  answers,  "  This  is  a  mere  outward 
symbol  of  the  Cause.  It  sets  forth  Baal  as  the  Sun- 
god.     The  sun,  as  everybody  knows,  is  the  source  of 


BAALISM  143 

universal  energy,  and  as  such  may  reasonably  stand 
for  the  Supreme  One." 

"  But  what  is  this  other  image,  this  image  of  Ashta- 
roth  ?  "  The  high  priest  answers,  "  She  stands  as  the 
spouse  or  complement  of  Baal.  For,  in  order  to  any 
rational  solution  of  the  beginning  of  things,  we  must 
start  with  generation  as  the  dual  principle.  Now  Baal 
and  Ashtaroth  are  really  only  one;  a  hyphenated  or 
androgynous  god ;   the  productive  energy  of  all." 

"  But  what  are  these  other  images ;  Moloch,  Dagon, 
Adonis,  Hadad  and  the  rest  ?  "  He  answers,  "  These 
are  symbolic  representations  of  the  attributes  of  Baal- 
Ashtaroth.  In  our  rites  and  ceremonies  we  do  not 
really  pay  worship  to  these  images,  but  only  through 
them  to  the  Ultimate  One." 

"  And  where  are  your  sources  of  information?  "  His 
answer  is,  "  The  revelation  of  Baal  is  in  nature."  It 
does  not  seem  to  occur  to  him,  or  to  the  Baalists  of  our 
time,  that  nature  speaks  a  various  language.  There 
are  indeed  "  tongues  in  trees,  sermons  in  stones,  books 
in  the  running  brooks  and  good  in  everything."  And 
he  is  but  a  poor  makeshift  of  a  man  who  can  stand  in 
Chamounix  and  not  hear  as  Coleridge  did  the  ice-falls 
and  the  mountains  echoing  God.     But  is  this  all  ? 

If  so,  it  is  wholly  inadequatej  for  the  following 
reasons.  First,  it  breaks  down  at  the  very  outset,  by 
utterly  failing  to  answer  its  question,  "  Whence  ?  "  It 
accounts  for  nothing.  It  does  not  find  the  origin  of 
matter :  for  were  I  able  to  grasp  the  universe  in  my  palm 
and  there  compress  it  to  the  infinitesimal  dimensions 
of  the  primordial  germ,  the  atom  would  still  cry  out, 
"  Whence  came  I  ?  "  And  it  is  as  difficult  to  answer 
the  cry  of  the  atom  as  it  is  to  answer  the  cry  of  the 


144        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

universe.  Nor  does  it  account  for  the  origin  of  life, 
or  of  reason,  or  of  man's  spiritual  nature.  A  dis- 
tinguished theologian  put  the  matter  justly  when  he 
said,  "  If  you  pursue  this  path  with  the  expectation  of 
reaching  the  First  Cause,  you  will  be  like  one  who 
follows  a  squirrel-track  only  to  find  it  running  up  a 
tree." 

It  is  inadequate,  and  unsatisfactory,  in  the  second 
place,  because  it  depersonalizes  God.  It  is  said  that 
Napoleon,  after  inspecting  the  naturalistic  system  of 
La  Place,  said,  ''  I  see  no  mention  of  God  here."  To 
which  La  Place  replied,  "  True ;  in  our  philosophy  we 
have  no  need  of  Him."  The  same  thought  was  expressed 
in  other  terms  by  Tyndall  in  his  Belfast  address,  when 
he  said,  ''  I  find  in  matter  the  promise  and  potency  of 
every  form  of  life."  It  is  evident  that  the  so-called 
god  of  the  freethinkers  is,  at  best,  a  mere  deus  ex 
machina;  called  in  to  account  for  things.  It  is  a  god 
without  eyes  to  see  or  ears  to  hear;  without  a  heart 
to  pity  or  hands  to  help  the  children  of  men. 

Baal  has  no  eyes :  here  is  the  denial  of  Providence. 
"All  things  proceed  along  the  calm  processes  of  in- 
violable law."  It  took  years  of  famine  to  teach  the 
children  of  Israel  the  folly  of  that  proposition.  A 
mighty  stride  has  been  taken  in  the  religious  life  when 
a  man  can  say,  with  all  his  heart,  '*  Thou  God  seest  me." 

Baal  has  no  ears  to  hear :  here  is  the  denial  of  the 
efficacy  of  prayer.  ''  There  is  no  voice  nor  answer  nor 
any  that  regardeth."  So  in  many  quarters  to-day  it  is 
affirmed  that  prayer  in  no  wise  affects  the  Deity,  but 
only  rebounds  as  a  ''  reflex  influence  "  upon  the  sup- 
pliant. This  is  in  obvious  contravention  of  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  who  said  "Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto 


BAALISM  145 

you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you." 

Baal  has  no  arm  to  make  bare  in  our  behalf :  here 
is  the  denial  of  the  supernatural,  or  of  miracles.  It  is 
heard  on  every  hand  to-day.  It  leaves  no  room  for  the 
divine  exercise  of  any  hypothetical  reserve  of  power. 
It  not  only  makes  God  a  mere  engineer,  it  makes  Him 
an  engineer  without  the  power  to  lay  a  finger  on  the 
throttle.  It  makes  Him  the  victim  and  bondslave  of 
His  own  machine.  Yet  history  is  a  long  story  of 
divine  interposition ;  the  life  of  Christ  is  a  succession 
of  miracles  wrought  by  the  greatest  Miracle  of  all ;  and 
His  Gospel  is  merely  a  definition  of  Immanuel  which, 
being  thus  interpreted,  is  "  God  with  us." 

For  a  further  statement  of  this  fact  we  are  directed 
to  the  Scriptures  :  ''  Search  the  Scriptures,  for  in  them 
ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  these  are  they  which 
testify  of  Me."  And  for  a  still  further  and  more  par- 
ticular definition  of  the  personal  and  interposing  God 
we  are  directed  to  Christ  Himself :  "  He  that  hath  seen 
Me  hath  seen  the  Father ;  how  sayest  thou  then.  Show 
us  the  Father?  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me  ?  "  And  the  God  thus 
made  manifest  is  a  Father  who  can  be  touched  with  a 
feeling  of  the  infirmities  of  His  children,  who  has  eyes 
to  see,  a  heart  to  pity  and  an  omnipotent  arm  to  help 
in  every  time  of  trouble. 

There  is  an  eye  that  never  sleeps 

Beneath  the  wing  of  night; 
There  is  an  ear  that  never  shuts, 

When  sink  the  beams  of  light. 


146         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

There   is   an   arm   that  never  tires, 
When  human  strength  gives  way; 

There  is  a  love  that  never  fails, 
When  earthly  loves  decay. 

That  eye  is  fixed  on  seraph  throngs; 

That  arm  upholds  the  sky; 
That  ear  is  filled  with  angels'  songs; 

That  love   is  throned  on   high. 

But  there's  a  power  which  man  can  wield 

When  mortal  aid  is  vain, 
That  eye,  that  arm,  that  love  to  reach. 

That  listening  ear  to  gain. 

That  power  is  prayer,  which  soars  on  high, 

Through  Jesus,  to  the  throne, 
And  moves  the  hand  that  moves  the  world, 

To  bring  salvation  down! 

The  third  reason  why  BaaHsm  is  inadequate  is  be- 
cause it  is  practically  immoral.  Now  this  is  not  to  say 
that  a  Baalist,  or  freethinker,  may  not  be  to  all  appear- 
ance a  moral  man.  It  still  remains  that  Baalism  is 
immoral  in  its  tendency  since  it  destroys  all  sense  of 
responsibility  to  a  personal  God. 

So  it  happens  that  Baal  and  Ashtaroth  were  en- 
throned together.  No  doubt  there  were  Baalists  who 
did  not  mingle  in  the  orgies  of  the  groves ;  but  it  is  a 
simple  historic  fact  that  wherever  Baal  went  there  went 
Ashtaroth  with  her  unclean  rites.  You  find  the  brazen 
image,  and  the  frightful  grove  of  impurity  is  near  by. 

A  few  years  ago,  while  I  was  preaching  in  one  of 
our  western  cities,  the  local  propaganda  of  infidelity 
fell  into  a  sudden  and  ignominious  collapse  through 
the  raiding  of  its  headquarters.     The  police  found  the 


BAALISM  147 

place  filled  with  palmists,  clairvoyants,  fortune-tellers, 
spiritualistic  msdiums  and  adventurers  of  every  sort; 
a  considerable  number  of  whom  were  landed  in  the 
common  jail. 

It  is  conceded  that  all  freethinkers  and  infidels  are 
not  of  this  malodorous  sort;  but  when  they  are  re- 
spectable, their  respectability  is  not  due  to  their  denial 
of  the  truth.  The  incidental  benefits  of  the  Gospel, 
like  the  showers  of  heaven,  fall  even  on  those  who  deny 
God.  If  its  historic  influence  on  Christendom  were  to 
be  suddenly  brought  to  naught,  there  is  not  a  thinking 
man  in  the  world  who  does  not  know  that  the  nations 
included  within  that  charmed  circle  would  return  to 
the  barbarism  of  the  nations  that  still  lie  in  outer  dark- 
ness. The  true  religion  makes  for  righteousness.  All 
others  involve  a  practical  divorcement  of  theology  and 
ethics.  Baalism  sends  its  sons  through  sacrificial  fires 
and  its  daughters  through  the  groves.  A  denial  of  the 
personal  God  is  a  denial  of  human  accountability.  The 
only  way  to  live  aright  is  to  live,  as  Milton  said,  "  in 
the  great  Taskmaster's  eye." 

In  the  fourth  place,  Baalism  is  inadequate  because 
it  minimizes  man.  A  distinguished  scientist  has  re- 
cently said :  "  I  look  out  on  nature,  swarming  with  its 
multitudinous  forms  of  life ;  I  look  on  cities  packed  to 
suffocation  with  busy  men ;  I  look  away  to  the  heavens 
and,  lo,  clouds  of  star-dust;  and  every  atom  possibly, 
a  populous  world  like  ours.  And  what  am  I?  Noth- 
ing !  Less  than  nothing !  Not  so  important  as  a  mote 
flying  in  a  sunbeam  !  " 

Put  over  against  that  the  words  of  the  shepherd  boy 
who  also  lifted  his  eyes  to  the  heavens,  as  he  watched 
his  flocks  on  the  Judean  plains,  and  said :    "  When  I 


148  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

consider  Thy  heavens,  the  work  of  Thy  fingers;  the 
moon  and  the  stars,  which  Thou  hast  ordained ;  what 
is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  Him,  or  the  son  of 
man,  that  Thou  visitest  him?  For  Thou  hast  made 
him  but  Httle  lower  than  the  angels,  and  hast  crowned 
him  with  glory  and  honour.  Thou  madest  him  to  have 
dominion  over  the  works  of  Thy  hands :  Thou  hast  put 
all  things  under  his  feet.  O  Lord,  our  Lord,  how  ex- 
cellent is  Thy  name  in  all  the  earth ! " 

Or,  still  better,  let  us  hear  the  words  of  Jesus,  who, 
passing  through  the  marketplace  of  Capernaum  and 
seeing  the  farmers  offering  for  sale  sparrows  strung  on 
willow  twigs,  was  moved  to  say,  "Are  not  two  spar- 
rows sold  for  a  farthing?  And  one  of  them  shall  not 
fall  on  the  ground  without  your  Father.  But  the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Fear  ye  not 
therefore;  ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows. 
If  your  Father  careth  for  them,  will  He  not  much  more 
care  for  you  ?  " 

And  finally,  Baalism  is  inadequate  because  it  breaks 
down  at  the  ultimate  and  critical  point.  The  supreme 
function  of  religion  is  not  to  account  for  the  origin  of 
things,  however  important  that  may  be,  but  to  answer 
the  question,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 

The  sense  of  sin  is  as  universal  as  the  desire  to  be 
delivered  from  it.  But  to  that  question  free-thought, 
or  the  denial  of  the  Gospel  in  any  form  whatsoever, 
gives  no  answer.  It  can  only  present  the  Law  of  Con- 
sequences in  its  implacable  rigidity :  "  Whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  If  I  ask,  "  What 
shall  I  do  about  the  dark  record  of  the  past  ?  "  it  can 
only  say,  "  Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead ;  there  is 
nothing  to  be  done  about  it." 


BAALISM  149 

But  here  comes  Christ  with  His  Gospel.  He  speaks : 
"  He  that  beheveth  shall  be  saved ;  the  Son  of  Man 
hath  power  on  earth  to  for^^ive  sin !  "  We  follow  Him 
to  Olivet  and  listen  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which 
is  by  universal  consent  a  matchless  presentation  of 
spiritual  truth.  We  follow  Him  to  the  Porches  of 
Bethesda  where  He  illustrates  His  doctrine  in  the  heal- 
ing of  the  lame  and  withered  and  blind.  We  follow 
Him  on  His  itineraries  among  the  villages  and  our 
hearts  repeat  the  monograph  of  His  wonderful  life, 
"  He  went  about  doing  good."  We  follow  on  until 
we  come  to  Calvary:  they  have  nailed  Him  to  the 
accursed  tree  and  the  multitudes  stand  beholding  with 
cold  eyes.  He  is  being  wounded  for  our  transgressions 
and  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  that  we  may  be  healed 
by  His  stripes.     He  is  being  made  a  sin-offering  for  us. 

And,  gazing  on  that  Tragedy,  we  are  perforce  car- 
ried back  through  the  centuries  to  the  Lord's  contro- 
versy on  Carmel.  This  is,  indeed,  "  the  world's  de- 
bate." Here  is  a  stupendous  battle  of  the  gods.  The 
prophet  of  Jehovah  stands  by  His  lonely  altar  saying, 
*'  Let  a  bullock  be  placed  here ;  and,  ye  four  hundred 
priests  of  Baal,  lay  a  bullock  on  each  of  your  altars; 
and  call  ye  upon  the  name  of  Baal  and  I  will  call  upon 
the  name  of  Jehovah ;  and  the  god  that  answereth  by 
fire,  let  him  be  God !  "  It  is  done :  they  begin  to  cry, 
"  O  Baal,  hear  us  !  "  but  there  is  no  answer.  The  sun 
passes  the  zenith  and  still  they  cry,  "  O  Baal,  hear  us !  " 
and  there  is  no  voice  nor  answer  i)or  any  that  re- 
gardeth.  At  evening  the  prophet  calmly  lifts  his  voice 
in  prayer :  "  O  God,  let  it  be  known  this  day  in  Israel 
that  Thou  art  God !  "  And,  lo,  yonder  it  falls,  like  a 
burning  fleece  from  heaven.     It  consumes  the  sacrifice ; 


150       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

and    the  people    are  crying,  "The  Lord,  He  is  the 
God!" 

All  this  was  but  a  foregleam  of  the  great  sacrifice 
on  Calvary.  There  indeed  the  Lord  answered  by  fire ; 
and  He  has  been  answering  by  fire  all  along  the  cen- 
turies to  this  day.  This  is  the  philosophy  of  history. 
The  light  of  the  Sacrifice  which  was  wrought  for  us 
men  and  our  salvation  has  been  cast  through  all  the 
subsequent  ages;  and  the  world  has  grown  brighter 
and  brighter  with  each  succeeding  day.  Thus  history 
is  the  irrefutable  logic  of  Jehovah.  The  Lord  He  is 
the  God ! 


XII 

ANTICHRIST,  THE  DENIAL  OF 
THE  SON 

THE  brief  Epistles  of  John  are  worthy  of  special 
consideration  for  several  reasons.  One  is  that 
they  were  written  by  a  centenarian.  It  is  meet 
and  proper,  as  Elihu  the  Buzite  said,  that  "  days  should 
speak  and  the  multitude  of  years  teach  wisdom." 
Truths  falling  from  the  lips  of  the  aged  are  like  the 
declining  sun,  which  grows  broader  and  more  impos- 
ing as  it  sinks  toward  the  western  sea. 

It  should  be  observed  also  that  the  writer  of  these 
Epistles  was  deeply  informed  as  to  religious  things. 
He  had  been  educated  in  the  school  of  experience, 
whose  curriculum  is  more  effective  than  that  of  any 
university  course.  His  historic  title  was  **  Theologos ;  " 
not  so  much  on  account  of  his  general  theological  pro- 
ficiency as  for  the  emphasis  he  placed  on  the  doctrine 
of  the  Logos  as  Theos,  or  Christ  as  God.  It  was  he 
who  said,  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God ;  and  the 
Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us." 

The  reader  of  John's  Epistles  should  bear  in  mind, 
also,  that  he  was  distinctively  "  the  Beloved  Disciple  " 
and  as  such  was  received  into  the  innermost  confidence 
of  his  Lord.  He  lay  upon  Jesus'  bosom  at  the  sacra- 
mental feast  and  was,  probably,  as  well  qualified  as 
any  mortal  man  could  be  to  interpret  "  the  mind  that 
was  in  Christ  Jesus." 

151 


152         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

It  should,  furthermore,  be  remembered  that  John 
was  "  the  Apostle  of  Love."  Love  was  his  constant 
theme.  All  are  familiar  with  the  tradition  that,  in  his 
declining  years,  when  no  longer  able  to  preach  from 
his  Ephesian  pulpit,  he  would  stretch  forth  tremulous 
hands  and  say,  ''  Little  children,  love  one  another." 
The  law  of  kindness  was  in  his  heart.  If,  therefore, 
we  find  him  speaking  in  severe  terms  of  evil  doers  or 
false  teachers,  it  is  solely  on  account  of  his  solicitude 
for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men. 

The  term  ''Antichrist "  was  originated  by  John. 
Not  that  others  of  the  sacred  writers  did  not  speak  at 
large  concerning  the  thing  which  it  designated,  but  he 
coined  the  word ;  and  its  suggestions  are  such  as  to 
warrant  our  devout  and  careful  consideration.  He 
refers  to  it  in  four  passages,  as  follows :  "  Little  chil- 
dren, it  is  the  last  time :  and  as  ye  have  heard  that 
Antichrist  shall  come,  even  now  there  are  many  Anti- 
christs ;  whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the  last  time  " 
(I  John  ii :  i8)  ; — "  Who  is  a  liar,  but  he  that  denieth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  ?  He  is  Antichrist  that  denieth 
the  Father  and  the  Son"  (I  John  11:22); — "And 
every  spirit  that  confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
come  in  the  flesh,*  is  not  of  God :  and  this  is  that 
spirit  of  Antichrist,  whereof  ye  have  heard  that  it 
should  come ;  and  even  now  already  is  it  in  the  world  " 
(I  John  iv:3); — "For  many  deceivers  are  entered 
into  the  world,  who  confess  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
come  in  the  flesh.  This  is  a  deceiver  and  an  Anti- 
christ"  (II  John  7). 

I.  We  have  here,  at  the  outset,  a  clear  definition  of 


*  This  passage  must,  obviously,  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  John's 
Gospel,  i:  1-5. 


ANTICHRIST  153 

Antichrist;  it  is  a  denial  of  the  fact  that  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  God  left  the  glory  which  He  had  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  was,  assumed  our  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us. 

It  appears  from  the  foregoing  Scripture  that  Anti- 
christ is  both  a  principle  and  a  person.  As  a  principle 
or  doctrine  it  was  formulated  in  what  was  historically 
known  as  the  Gnostic  heresy,  which  denied  the  divinity 
of  Christ.  This  denial  was  made  in  many  ways;  but 
it  was  always  an  antithesis  of  the  proposition  that  "  the 
Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  Gnosti- 
cism, as  such,  died  about  300  A.  D. ;  but  it  survived 
under  other  names,  such  as  Arianism  and  Sabellianism ; 
and  as  Unitarianism  it  still  exists. 

The  personal  advocate  of  this  heresy  in  the  time  of 
John  was  Cerinthus,  who  affirmed  that  Jesus  was  a 
mere  man;  but  that,  at  His  baptism,  an  ^on  from 
God  descended  through  the  open  heavens  upon  Him, 
enduing  Him  with  divine  attributes  which  He  exer- 
cised until  His  crucifixion,  when  the  ^on  was  again 
withdrawn  at  His  cry,  "  My  God,  my  God  !  Why 
hast  Thou  forsaken  Me !  "  The  personal  reference, 
"  He  is  Antichrist  that  denieth  the  Father  and  the 
Son ;  "  was  probably  directed  at  this  man :  but,  as  the 
Apostle  says,  ''  There  are  many  Antichrists,"  and  again, 
"  Whosoever  confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come 
in  the  flesh,  the  same  is  a  deceiver  and  an  Antichrist." 
In  the  opinion  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  divines 
the  Pope  was  an  Antichrist;  this  was  true  only  so  far 
as  the  Pope  at  that  time  practically  denied  the  divine 
preeminence  of  Jesus  by  putting  himself  in  Christ's 
place  as  a  mediator  and  announcing  himself  as  the 
Vicar  of  God.    It  is  true,  in  like  measure,  of  any; 


154         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

teacher  whomsoever  who  denies  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
"  very  God  of  very  God." 

11.  The  denial  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  as  thus  in- 
dicated, is  characterized  by  the  apostle  in  no  uncer- 
tain terms.  He  repeatedly  speaks  of  it  as  the  great 
"  He,"  and  of  its  advocate  as  "  a  deceiver  and  a  liar ;  " 
as  where  he  asks  "  Who  is  a  liar,  but  he  that  denieth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ?" 

These  are  strange  epithets  to  fall  from  the  lips  of 
"  the  Apostle  of  Love."  But  this  man  was  no  euphe- 
mist,  no  mincer  of  words.  He  meant  what  he  said  and 
said  what  he  meant.  And  in  the  present  case  there 
was  abundant  reason  for  plain  speaking;  for  the 
teacher  who  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ  struck  at  the 
living  centre  of  Christianity.  In  this  denial  was  in- 
volved an  inevitable  denial  of  every  essential  fact  of 
Christianity ;  particularly  the  Incarnation,  the  Efficacy 
of  the  Atonement,  and  the  Aliracle  of  the  Resurrection 
as  a  divine  seal  put  upon  the  person,  character  and 
work  of  the  only-begotten  Son. 

As  a  devout  lover  of  the  truth,  it  therefore  devolved 
upon  John  to  denounce  this  heresy  in  unmistakable 
words.  In  his  letter  to  the  Elect  Lady  and  her  Children 
he  admonishes  her  to  cherish  this  doctrine  of  Christ,  at 
all  hazards,  saying,  **  Whosoever  transgresseth,  and 
abideth  not  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  hath  not  God.  If 
there  come  any  unto  you  that  bringeth  not  this  doctrine, 
receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid  him  God 
speed :  for  he  that  biddeth  him  God  speed,  is  partaker 
of  his  evil  deeds." 

HI.  One  of  the  important  conclusions  from  this 
teaching  of  John  is  the  importance  of  keeping  our- 
selves in  the  orbit  of  truth. 


ANTICHRIST  155 

The  doctrines  of  Christianity  are  as  arcs  of  a  great 
circle  of  which  Christ  is  the  centre.  To  leave  the  cir- 
cumference at  any  point  involves  the  danger  of  swing- 
ing off  like  a  tangent  into  infinity.  There  is  a  singular 
pertinence  in  Jude's  reference  to  false  teachers  as 
"  wandering  stars."  It  is  one  of  the  differentiating 
facts  of  our  religion  that  its  doctrines  admit  of  sys- 
temization,  a  fact  which  cannot  be  asserted  of  any 
other.  No  coherent  or  logical  system  of  doctrine  has 
been  formulated  for  Islam,  Buddhism,  Brahmanism  or 
any  of  the  false  religions.  It  is  obvious,  therefore, 
that  our  safety  as  believers  lies  in  a  consistent  accep- 
tance of  every  Christian  truth  as  held  in  place  by  the 
attraction  of  Christ  Himself,  as  centre  of  all. 

IV.  It  devolves  on  a  believer,  also,  to  observe  a 
right  attitude  toward  all  forms  of  unbelief,  but  par- 
ticularly toward  this  denial  of  Christ. 

The  line  is  clearly  drawn  along  the  statement  of  this 
doctrine  of  the  Godhood  of  Jesus,  and  it  divides  be- 
tween those  who  are  justly  entitled  to  call  themselves 
Christians  and  those  who  are  not.  This  would  go 
without  the  saying,  were  it  not  that  many  call  them- 
selves by  the  name  of  Christ  who  openly  avow  the 
heresy  which  John  characterizes  as  the  great  "  lie." 
It  may  have  been  more  important  in  the  infancy  of  the 
Church  to  avoid  the  fellowship  of  such  deniers  of  Christ 
than  at  present;  but  the  time  will  never  come  when  a 
home  like  that  of  the  Elect  Lady  can  safely  harbour  a 
teacher  who  makes  it  his  business,  as  did  the  Gnostics, 
to  deny  that  Jesus  was  what  He  claimed  to  be.  "  For 
what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  Or  what 
concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?  "  (II  Cor.  vi :  i6). 

This  is  not  to  say  that  we  are  prohibited   fronx 


156  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

mingling  on  terms  of  common  affection  with  unbe- 
lievers; but  the  line  dividing  us  is  never  to  be  ob- 
scured, and  our  faith  is  never  to  be  confused  or  com- 
promised with  their  denial  of  it.  They  are  oftentimes 
bound  to  us  by  the  closest  and  tenderest  ties  of  kinship ; 
not  infrequently  we  are  associated  with  them  in  the 
secular  affairs  of  life ;  nevertheless  we  are  divided  from 
them  by  a  gulf  which  can  only  be  bridged  by  their  con- 
version to  the  truth.  Meanwhile  it  is  our  duty  to  love 
them  sincerely  and  pray  without  ceasing  that  they  may 
be  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Christ  as  the  only 
Saviour  from  sin. 

I  am  aware  that  this  will  be  regarded  as  intolerance ; 
but  observe,  it  is  not  my  intolerance ;  since  our  present 
task  is  merely,  but  with  absolute  frankness,  to  inter- 
pret the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures.  Let  us  inquire, 
however,  what  is  meant  by  "  tolerance."  Is  it  to  say, 
"  For  forms  of  faith  let  canting  bigots  fight ;  his  faith 
cannot  be  wrong  whose  life  is  right;"  when  we  are 
divinely  taught  that  loyalty  to  truth  is  the  only  basis 
of  a  holy  life?  Two  things  which  are  so  manifestly 
opposite  as  the  assertion  and  denial  of  Christ's  divinity, 
cannot  both  be  true.  It  must  be  apparent,  therefore, 
that,  here  as  elsewhere,  tolerance  of  error  is  intolerance 
of  truth.  Such  tolerance  may  arise  from  either  igno- 
rance or  indifference ;  but  in  either  case  it  is  disloyalty 
to  truth ;  and  in  the  case  under  consideration  it  is  dis- 
loyalty to  the  living  Source  and  Centre  of  truth. 

V.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  while  John 
presents,  in  most  vivid  terms,  the  danger  of  being  led 
away  by  Antichrist,  he  strikes  no  minor  chord  of  dis- 
couragement. 

On  the  contrary,  he  gives  the  impression  of  an  abso- 


ANTICHRIST  167 

lute  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Christ  over  all. 
We  hear  it  affirmed  that  the  Godhood  of  Jesus  is  now 
more  frequently  and  speciously  denied  than  ever  before ; 
which  might  be  expected  from  the  rapid  and  not  always 
careful  multiplication  of  Church  members  in  recent 
years.    But  there  is  no  occasion  for  borrowing  trouble. 

Truth  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again. 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers ; 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  with  pain, 

And  dies  among  his  worshippers. 

The  last  error  to  die  will  be  the  denial  of  Christ :  it  will 
continue  until  the  last  stubborn  knee  shall  bend  in 
homage  before  Him  at  the  rising  of  the  millennial  sun. 

In  this  and  other  heresies  of  our  time  there  is  noth- 
ing new.  The  terminology  may  vary,  but  the  fact 
is  precisely  as  John  declared  it.  The  Prince  of  This 
World  is  no  less  reluctant  now  than  ever  to  surrender 
his  dominion  over  the  hearts  of  men.  Is  it  not  writ- 
ten, "  The  evil  spirit  tare  him  before  it  came  out  of 
him  ?  "  But,  however  violent  these  manifestations  of 
error,  the  Church  is  in  no  danger ;  since  it  is  eternally 
founded  on  the  Godhood  of  Christ.  This  is  the  good 
confession  of  Peter,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God,"  whereof  Christ  said,  "  On  this  rock 
will  I  build  my  Church  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it." 

Nor  is  the  individual  Christian  in  any  danger;  for, 
as  John  said,  "  The  anointing  which  ye  have  received 
of  Him  abideth  in  you,  and  ye  need  not  that  any  man 
teach  you ;  but  as  the  same  anointing  teacheth  you  of 
all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie,  and  even  as  it 
hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in  Him"  (I  John  ii :  27). 


158       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

The  anointing  or  chrism  here  referred  to  is  that  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  of  whom  Christ  said,  "  He  shall  lead  you 
into  all  truth."  In  like  manner  He  said,  "  I  am  the 
good  Shepherd  and  know  My  sheep,  and  am  known  of 
Mine.  They  know  My  voice ;  and  a  stranger  will  they 
not  follow,  but  will  flee  from  him;  for  they  know  not 
the  voice  of  strangers  "  (John  x:  5).  It  is  only  those 
who  live  on  the  outermost  edge  of  loyalty  to  Christ 
who  are  in  danger  of  being  mortally  "deceived  "  by 
those  who  deny  Him. 

VI.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  possibility  of 
doubt  in  respect  to  this  matter,  the  apostle  gives  the 
believer  a  touchstone,  by  which  he  may  be  able  to  de- 
termine between  truth  and  error  :  "  Beloved,  believe  not 
every  spirit;  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of 
God;  because  many  false  teachers  are  gone  out  into 
the  world.  Hereby  know  ye  the  Spirit  of  God  :  every 
spirit  that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the 
flesh,  is  of  God :  and  every  spirit  that  confesseth  not 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  is  not  of  God ; 
and  this  is  that  spirit  of  Antichrist,  whereof  ye  have 
heard  that  it  should  come"  (I  John  iv:  1-3). 

To  be  right  in  our  relations  with  Christ  is,  there- 
fore, to  be  safe  against  all  error  and  openhearted  toward 
all  truth.  Our  loyalty  to  Him  is  like  the  chi-rho,  or 
cabalistic  monogram  of  Christ  which  was  worn  as  a 
protective  amulet  by  the  Christians  of  the  olden  time. 

VII.  We  conclude,  then,  that  our  place  of  absolute 
security  is  at  Jesus'  feet. 

Why  not?  Have  we  not  professed  to  receive  Him 
as  Prophet,  Priest  and  King  ?  In  that  posture  we  hear 
the  doctrine  of  His  Person  from  His  own  lips :  He  is 
the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,  who  came  forth  from 


ANTICHRIST  169 

heaven  and  assumed  our  flesh,  that  He  might  be  able 
to  suffer  in  our  behalf  and  to  suffer  sufficiently  for  all 
the  children  of  men.  We  shall  hear  Him,  furthermore, 
refer  us  to  the  teaching  of  His  apostles  as  commis- 
sioned to  declare  truth  under  the  influence  of  His  Spirit. 
He  so  distinctly  places  the  seal  of  authenticity  and  di- 
vine authority  upon  their  Scripture,  that  we  are  left  no 
alternative  but  to  receive  their  words  precisely  as  we 
receive  His ;  as  He  said,  "  He  that  heareth  you,  hear- 
eth  Me;  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  Me." 
Not  only  so ;  we  hear  Him  putting  His  divine  sanction 
and  imprimatur  on  the  whole  body  of  Scripture,  say- 
ing, "  Search  the  Scriptures,  for  in  them  ye  think  ye 
have  eternal  life  and  these  are  they  which  testify  of 
Me."  We  are  bound,  therefore,  as  we  are  loyal  to  our 
Lord  and  Master,  to  accept  these  Scriptures  without 
demur  or  hesitation,  as  the  Word  of  God. 

But  what  becomes  of  progress?  Are  we  not  to  be 
"  progressive  Christians  ?  "  Surely.  We  are  to  move 
on  with  the  revolution  of  the  years.  Let  it  be  under- 
stood, however,  that  progress  is  not  cometary  but  plane- 
tary and  subservient  to  law.  The  comets  whizz 
through  space,  like  the  freethinkers  that  they  are,  de- 
fiant of  control  and  heedless  of  destination;  while  the 
planets  revolve  in  their  orbits,  obeying  the  force  that 
holds  them  ever  to  the  central  orb. 

One  of  the  well-worn  proverbs  of  our  time  is,  "  The 
heretics  of  yesterday  are  the  believers  of  to-day." 
There  is  not  a  particle  of  truth  in  it.  Men's  opinions 
have  oftentimes  been  overturned  by  the  logic  of  events, 
but  the  things  that  were  essentially  true  in  the  begin- 
ning are  equally  true  to-day.  The  Gnostic  of  the  sec- 
ond century  was  no  more  heretical  in  his  views  than  is 


160  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

the  Unitarian  of  our  time.  The  truth  has  not  swerved 
an  hair's  breadth  in  the  progress  of  the  ages.  Ortho- 
doxy, as  outHned  by  the  great  verities,  is  just  what  it 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era.  Paul  was 
evangelical,  Simon  Magus  was  a  heretic :  John  was 
orthodox ;  Cerinthus  was  an  unbeliever ;  the  denial  of 
the  fundamental  facts  of  Christianity  comes  and  goes 
with  an  ever-changing  terminology;  but  the  truth  is 
immutable,  "  and  the  thing  that  hath  been  shall  be." 
The  progressive  Christian  is  one  who  sits  at  his 
Master's  feet  asking  in  humble  reverence,  "  Lord,  what 
sayest  Thou  ?  "  and,  "  What  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  " 
and  who  then  proceeds  to  model  his  faith  and  life  upon 
the  instructions  of  his  Lord,  ever  glad  and  eager  to 
say,  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me." 


THE  ENEMY 


There's  such  divinity  doth  hedge  a  king, 
That  treason  can  but  peep  to  what  it  would. 

Hamlet 


XIII 
THE  TROJAN  HORSE 

AN  infidel,  strictly  speaking,  is  an  apostate;  but 
by  long  usage  the  word  has  come  to  designate 
one  who  wilfully  opposes  truth.  The  truth 
is  from  God.  The  original  infidel  was  Satan  who  ad- 
dressed our  first  parents  on  this  wise,  "  Yea,  hath  God 
said  ? "  This  is  the  open  question  of  the  centuries, 
*'  Has  God  spoken  ?  Has  He  revealed  Himself  to 
men  ?  " 

The  contention  is  that  God  has  thus  revealed  Him- 
self in  the  Scriptures  as  His  Written  Word  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  His  Incarnate  Word,  the  two  comple- 
menting each  other  and  constituting  the  binomial  and 
complete  Word  of  God. 

To  oppose  that  proposition  is  the  special  function  of 
the  infidel.  His  plan  of  procedure  is  either  by  open 
assault  or  strategy.  Experience  has  shown  the  former 
to  be  the  more  admirable  but  less  effective  method ; 
wherefore  it  is  little  used  in  these  days. 

The  old-time  infidel  was  oftentimes  a  man  of  cour- 
age, who  hung  his  banners  on  the  outer  walls,  like 
Macbeth,  crying,  "  Blow  wind !  Come  wrack !  At 
least  we'll  die  with  harness  on  our  back."  There  was 
Celsus,  back  in  the  second  century,  who  in  his  "  True 
Discourse  "  hurled  all  the  thunderbolts  that  the  Greek 
Philosophy  had  ever  forged  against  the  truth ;  and 
Julian  the  Apostate  who  assailed  Christ  as  an  impostor 

163 


164        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

and  His  followers  as  "  Galileans ;  "  and  multitudes  of 
others  whose  minds,  however  warped,  were  cast  in  a 
heroic  mould.  And  there  were  also  the  titans  of  the 
eighteenth  century;  Hume  and  Gibbon,  the  courtly 
Chesterfield,  Thomas  Paine  with  his  "  unchained  tiger," 
the  grandiloquent  Rousseau,  Mirabeau,  Voltaire  with 
his  frightful  cry,  "  Ecrasez  ITnfame ! "  and  all  the 
fathers  of  the  Reign  of  Terror.  What  mattered  it 
that  the  guillotine  gaped  for  victims,  that  the  gutters 
ran  red?  On  with  the  dance  of  death!  We  bow  at 
the  shrine  of  Reason !     There  is  no  God ! 

But  where  are  those  admirable  infidels  now?  Alas, 
all  gone.  In  England,  Bradlaugh  was  the  last  of  the 
Old  Guard.  In  America,  when  Robert  Ingersoll  "  fell 
down,"  as  Shakespeare  said  anent  the  death  of  Caesar, 
**  they  all  fell  down."  No  more  are  left  to  cry,  "  Let 
us  break  his  bands  asunder  and  cast  away  his  cords 
from  us !  " 

The  policy  of  open  attack  has  given  way  to  strategy. 
The  open  attack  did  not  work.  When  the  enemy  came 
in  like  a  flood  the  Lord  lifted  up  His  banner.  Rant 
and  execrate  as  they  would,  the  Church  grew  and  pros- 
pered. The  gates  of  hell  could  not  prevail  against  it. 
In  the  last  half  century  of  blatant  infidelity  the  numeri- 
cal increase  of  the  Church  was  larger  than  in  the 
eighteen  hundred  years  before  it. 

Hence  the  ominous  silence  that  prevails  in  our  time. 
The  troops  of  Ulysses  are  no  longer  hurled  in  vain 
assault  against  the  w^alls  of  Troy ;  the  wooden  horse 
has  been  dragged  into  the  citadel,  and  the  ambushed 
army  awaits  the  issue.  The  denial  of  truth  is  no 
longer  with  a  bold  defiance  but  with  a  rising  inflection, 
"  Yea  hath  God  said  ? "     On  every  hand  are  heard 


THE   TROJAN    HORSE  165 

denials,  more  or  less  outspoken,  of  the  supernatural 
factor  in  both  the  written  and  the  incarnate  Word  of 
God. 

This  is  what  Jesus  foretold :  "  Many  false  prophets 
shall  arise  and  shall  deceive  many ; "  and  again,  ''  Be- 
ware of  false  prophets  which  come  to  you  in  sheep's 
clothing,  but  inwardly  are  ravening  wolves  !  "  The 
teaching  of  the  apostles  abounds  in  like  admonitions, 
as  where  Peter  says,  "  There  shall  be  false  teachers 
among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring  in  damnable  here- 
sies ;  and  many  shall  follow  their  pernicious  ways ;  by 
reason  of  whom  the  way  of  truth  shall  be  evil  spoken  of." 
This  being  so,  it  is  the  manifest  duty  of  all  Christians 
to  be  on  their  guard,  and  of  all  Christ's  ministers  to  be 
faithful  in  exposing  those  who  thus  subtly  and  treach- 
erously oppose  the  truth.  This  is  not  intolerance,  else 
Christ  and  His  apostles  would  not  have  led  the  way. 
It  cannot  offend  the  faithful ;  since  he  who  takes  of- 
fense by  putting  on  the  accusation,  pleads  guilty  ipso 
facto  by  confessing  that  it  fits  him. 

The  false  prophet,  as  Jesus  says,  may  be  "  known  by 
his  fruits ; "  not  merely  by  his  moral  misdemeanors 
but  by  his  way  of  putting  things.  The  old-time  infidel 
would  have  frankly  thrown  down  his  gauntlet  on  this 
wise,  "  The  Bible  is  a  fraud  and  Jesus  an  impostor." 
Not  so  our  strategist :  he  commands  a  large  vocabu- 
lary of  equivocal  words  and  phrases.  One  touchstone, 
however,  will  always  betray  him.  He  denies  that  God 
has  truthfully  revealed  Himself  either  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  by  logical  sequence  in  Christ. 

I.  He  will  tell  you  that  he  "  believes  the  Bible ;  " 
but,  pursuing  the  subject  further,  you  discover  that 
he  is  juggling  with  words.     When  he  says  "  The  Bible 


166         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Is  true,"  he  means  only  that  it  is  occasionally  or  fre- 
quently so.  When  he  calls  it  the  "  Word  of  God  "  he 
means  only  that  it  is  one  of  many  Words  of  God. 
When  he  talks  about  ''  inspiration  "  he  means  simply 
an  inspiration  common  to  the  world's  literature.  And 
if  he  ascribes  ''  divinity "  to  Christ,  it  is  only  the 
divinity  v^hich  he  would  grant  to  all  who  were  created 
in  the  image  of  God.  If  words  were  coins  such  men 
would  be  liable  to  arrest  for  counterfeiting :  and  per- 
haps they  are  thus  liable  in  that  Appellate  Court  where 
the  term  honesty  is  not  restricted  to  commercial  trans- 
actions but  has  to  do  with  the  secret  imaginations  of 
the  hearts  of  men. 

II.  And  then,  if  you  insist  on  the  veracity  of  the 
Scriptures,  this  clever  adversary  will  inquire,  with  a 
lifting  of  his  eyebrows,  if  your  religion  is  "  the  religion 
of  a  Book  ?  "  to  which  you  may  safely  answer  "  Why 
not  ?  "  It  is  the  religion  of  the  Bible  as  the  ultimate 
and  only  authority  concerning  Christ  and  His  Gospel. 
Then  ask  him  where  he  finds  his  standard  of  authority. 
If  he  rejects  the  Book  which  is  the  only  accepted 
authority  as  to  Christ,  his  only  alternatives  are  to  take 
either  an  infallible  Church  or  an  infallible  ego.  Out 
of  this  dilemma  no  escape  is  possible,  except  into  the 
wilderness  of  agnosticism :   ''  I  know  not." 

III.  Then  he  will  probably  ask  why  you  lay  such  em- 
phasis on  "  the  question,  whether  Moses  wrote  the 
Pentateuch  or  not  ?  "  And  that  will  disclose  his  utter 
disingenuousness :  for  nobody  knows  better  than  he 
that  the  question  is  not,  "  Who  wrote  the  Scriptures?" 
but  ''Are  they  true,  and  wholly  true,  as  coming  from 
God  ?  "  The  question  is  not  as  to  the  amanuensis  who 
held  the  pen,  but  as  to  the  Divine  Mind  that  moved  it. 


THE   TROJAN    HORSE  167 

It  is  indeed  of  slight  moment  who  wrote  the  Penta- 
teuch or  Isaiah,  or  any  other  portion  of  the  Scriptures ; 
except  so  far  as  their  authorship  is  definitely  stated  in 
the  book  itself;  but  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  know 
whether  the  claim  which  the  Bible  makes  for  itself 
is  true  or  not,  to  wit,  that  it  was  "  inspired  "  (literally, 
God-breathed),  and  transmitted  to  us  through  holy  men 
who  "  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God.'* 

IV.  Next,  this  false  prophet  will  ask  "  what  differ- 
ence a  few  unimportant  mistakes  can  make  with  the 
broad  doctrinal  and  ethical  teachings  of  Scripture  ?  " 
There  again  he  is  disingenuous.  In  fact  he  does  not 
limit  himself  to  '^  a  few  unimportant  mistakes;"  he 
really  holds  that  Genesis  is  a  compilation  of  myths  and 
legends ;  Deuteronomy,  a  wholesale  forgery ;  the 
prophesies  of  no  significant  value,  and  the  Book  itself 
a  mingled  tissue  of  truth  and  error.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  infinitesimals  but  of  wholesale  essentials.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  ''  specks  in  the  marble  of  the  Par- 
thenon," but  whether  there  ever  was  a  Parthenon,  and 
if  so,  whether  it  was  really  built  of  marble  or  only  of 
wood,  hay  and  stubble.  The  Bible  as  interpreted  by 
these  teachers  is  not  ''  the  best  of  books ;  "  nay,  so  far 
from  that,  if  one  hundred  of  the  most  reliable  volumes 
of  current  literature  were  placed  beside  it,  the  critics 
themselves  being  the  judges,  the  Bible  would  be  the 
least  trustworthy  of  them  all. 

V.  You  may  then  expect  this  ingenious  disputant  to 
inquire  with  an  air  of  amazement,  whether  you  "  really 
believe  there  are  no  mistakes  in  the  Bible  ?  "  To  which 
you  may  safely  answer,  "  No,  there  are  no  mistakes  in 
the  Bible :  though  there  are  some,  such  as  might  natur- 
ally be  expected  in  the  process  of  transmission  and 


168         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

translation,  in  the  King  James  version,  and  in  other 
versions  of  it."  Whereupon  he  will  be  pretty  certain 
to  say,  "  Oh,  you  mean  you  believe  in  the  inerrancy  of 
the  Original  Autograph?  Did  you  ever  see  it?  And 
what  have  we  to  do  with  it  ?  "  Now  suppose  you  meet 
him  with  a  similar  question  as  to  the  Incarnate  Word : 
*'  Did  you  ever  see  Christ  ?  Did  any  living  person  ever 
see  Him  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  anybody  say  that  he  had 
ever  seen  Him?  Why  then  do  you  believe  in  Christ 
at  all?" 

The  fact  is  that,  at  this  point,  there  is  singular  par- 
allel between  Christ  and  the  Scriptures :  ( i )  They 
are  both  alike  called  The  Word  of  God.  (2)  They  are 
both  theanthropic ;  that  is,  the  Divine  and  human  are 
inextricably  blended  in  their  fabric;  yet  not  so  as  to 
prevent  their  absolute  truth  and  faultlessness.  (3) 
Both  Originals  have  vanished  from  sight ;  and  are 
transmitted  through  succeeding  ages  only  through  the 
lives  and  labours  of  fallible  men.  Nevertheless,  we  be- 
lieve in  the  unseen  Christ  and  thus  believing  **  rejoice 
with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  And  for  a 
like  reason  we  believe  in  the  Original  Autograph  of  the 
Scriptures  as  it  left  the  pens  of  those  holy  men  who 
wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  (4) 
Despite  all  errors  in  the  transmission  of  the  two  Words, 
written  and  incarnate,  they  are  alike  in  such  substan- 
tial perfection  as  to  be  "  profitable  unto  every  good 
work,"  and  wholly  efifective  in  guiding  and  saving  men, 

VI.  But,  says  the  controversialist,  "  What  difference 
does  it  make  whether  the  historical  and  scientific  parts 
of  Scripture  are  true  or  not,  so  long  as  its  doctrinal 
and  ethical  propositions  are  correct?  Is  not  its  pur- 
pose to   save  men  ? "     The  answer  is  plain ;    to  say 


THE    TROJAN    HORSE  169 

that  the  only  purpose  of  the  Scriptures  is  salvation 
is  pure  assumption.  They  were  intended  to  be  "  profit- 
able in  all  things,  so  that  a  man  may  be  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  every  good  work."  And  if  they  are 
not  veracious  in  respect  to  science  and  history,  what 
ground  have  we  for  committing  ourselves  to  their  spir- 
itual guidance?  Falsus  in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus.  If 
the  veracity  of  your  witness  is  successfully  impugned 
the  only  thing  for  him  to  do  is  to  step  out  of  the 
witness-box.  A  minister  of  the  gospel  whose  word  is 
discredited  in  secular  affairs  is  not  likely  to  pass  un- 
challenged as  a  spiritual  counsellor.  The  Bible  is  not 
truthworthy  any  way  unless  it  is  trustworthy  every 
way. 

VII.  "  But,"  continues  our  specious  opponent,  "  this 
is  a  question  for  experts.  The  points  at  issue  are 
such  as  can  only  be  determined  by  the  profoundest 
scholarship.  Would  you  set  yourself  against  all  prog- 
ress and  erudition?  These  men  are  now  engaged  in 
their  investigations ;  and  it  behooves  the  unlearned  to 
patiently  await  their  conclusions."  Is  there  no  eru- 
dition except  the  microscopic  skill  to  split  a  hair,  or 
analyze  a  fly-speck  on  the  margin?  Or  is  there  a 
broader,  deeper,  higher  scholarship,  gotten  in  the  secret 
place  with  God?  But  suppose  we  take  these  men  at 
their  word  and  concede  that  wisdom  will  die  with 
them,  what  are  "  the  unshod  people  "  to  do  meanwhile, 
whose  souls  are  agonizing  for  a  solution  of  the  prob- 
lems of  eternal  life?  Must  they  hold  in  abeyance  the 
great  question,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  And 
how  long  are  they  to  keep  themselves  thus  in  suspense, 
like  Mohammed's  coffin,  betwixt  heaven  and  earth? 
Have  not  experts  been  discussing  these  questions  since 


170         CHRIST  AND   PROGRESS 

the  foundation  of  the  world?  No,  gentlemen,  the 
Bible  is  the  Book  of  the  People,  as  its  salvation  is  for 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  "  Where  are  the 
wise?  Where  are  the  disputers  of  this  world?  Hath 
not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  men  ?  "  Special- 
ists have  their  place;  let  them  keep  it.  Our  Lord's 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  to  Doctors  of  Di- 
vinity and  Theological  Professors  only,  but  to  all  His 
disciples,  "  He  shall  lead  you  into  all  truth."  The 
Bible  is  removed  by  that  promise  from  the  exclusive 
province  of  expert  scholarship  and  placed  within  the 
universal  ken.  Let  those  who  are  open  and  avowed 
enemies  of  the  Word  pour  on  their  destructive  acids 
and  kindle  their  hostile  fires;  but  meanwhile  it  be- 
hooves such  as  are  bound  by  covenant  vows  to  vindi- 
cate their  loyalty  to  the  Scriptures  by  defending  them. 
And  the  people  are  the  jury  in  this  case,  as  they  were 
in  the  Lord's  controversy  on  Mount  Carmel ;  as  be- 
tween Elijah  and  the  priests  of  Baal,  their  verdict 
being,  "  The  Lord  He  is  the  God !  " 

VHL  "  But  you  are  mistaken,"  says  our  friend  the 
enemy,  "  in  asserting  that  our  purpose  is  destructive. 
It  may  be  that  incidentally  the  faith  of  some  has  been 
shaken ;  but,  whatever  may  have  occurred  in  the  past, 
while  we  were  clearing  away  the  debris,  we  are  now 
engaged  in  constructive  work."  So  much  the  worse. 
You  are  right  in  your  confession  thus  far;  you  have 
found  a  lot  of  lame  people  walking  with  crutches  and, 
having  persuaded  them  to  throw  away  their  Bibles,  it 
is  high  time  that  you  should  furnish  some  other  sup- 
port for  their  uncertain  steps.  But  what  do  you  pro- 
pose? A  New  Bible?  Aye,  you  tell  us  that,  under 
the  clear  blaze  of  your  erudition,  the  Bible  has  come 


THE   TROJAN    HORSE  171 

to  be  "  a  new  Book."  It  is  indeed  a  new  book ;  full 
of  errors  on  all  points  within  the  cognizance  of  the 
senses  yet  heralded  by  you  as  a  trustworthy  guide  in 
matters  beyond  sight !  The  thinking  world  laughs. 
Is  this  the  edifice  which  you  have  been  so  laboriously 
constructing?  Is  this  your  "refuge  from  the  storm 
and  shadow  from  the  heat  ?  "  A  Bible  without  ground 
of  confidence?  A  religion  without  the  supernatural? 
A  Gospel  without  oracles?  A  Christianity  without 
Christ?    A  Salvation  without  blood? 

IX.  "  Nay,  but  we  do  not  deny  Christ,"  they  say ; 
"  On  the  contrary  we  insist  on  loyalty  to  Christ.  Our 
whole  system  is  Christocentric.  Back  to  Christ !  " 
What  Christ?  The  Christ  of  the  Bible  which  you  re- 
nounce ?  The  Christ  who  affixed  His  authoritative  seal 
to  the  "  fables  "  of  the  Flood,  of  Lot's  wife,  of  Jonah 
in  the  whale's  belly  ?  The  Christ  who  called  the  Scrip- 
tures *'  truth  "  and  never  breathed  a  word  or  syllable 
against  their  absolute  inerrancy?  The  Christ  who 
said  '*  Search  the  Scriptures  (not  for  the  purpose  of 
disproving  them  but)  because  in  them  ye  think  ye  have 
eternal  life,  and  these  are  they  which  testify  of  Me  ?  " 
Or,  in  your  process  of  "  construction  "  are  you  giving 
the  world  a  new  Christ,  too  ?  One  of  your  leaders  re- 
cently said,  from  his  theological  chair,  ''  The  time  has 
come  for  a  restatement  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ." 
Timeo  Danaos,  dona  ferentes.  It  is  not  enough,  under 
the  circumstances,  for  you  to  say  that  you  believe  in 
Christ. 

A  daw's  not  counted  a  religious  bird 
Because   it   keeps   a-cawing   from   a   steeple. 

It  is  not  enough  for  you  to  talk  about  a  Christocentric 


172         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

system.  The  word  "  Christocentric  "  has  a  mellifluous 
sound,  but  if  it  be  employed  to  cover  a  rejection  of 
Christ's  doctrine  as  to  inspiration  or  anything  else  it 
serves  Him  ill.  We  may  be  sure  He  Himself  would 
be  the  first  to  repudiate  a  Bibleless  Gospel  no  matter 
what  sweet  adjective  you  may  attach  to  it. 

X.  But  we  are  privately  informed  by  certain  of  these 
men  that  the  truths  of  the  New  Theology  are  esoteric ; 
and  that  those  who  entertain  them  are  not  accustomed 
to  declare  them  on  the  house-tops.  Worse  and  worse ! 
There  are  no  "  mysteries  "  in  our  religion.  "An  high- 
way shall  be  there  and  a  way ;  and  the  wayfaring  man 
though  a  fool  shall  not  err  therein."  Did  not  the 
Master  say,  "  Except  ye  become  as  a  little  child,  ye 
shall  in  no  wise  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  "  The  man 
"  in  holy  orders "  who  confidentially  avows  opinions 
which  he  dare  not  preach  in  the  great  congregation  is 
false  to  his  obligation  to  declare  the  truth  as  he  under- 
stands it.  More  than  that,  he  is  a  coward.  If  he 
would  vindicate  his  manhood,  not  to  say  his  Chris- 
tianity, let  him  stand  forth  in  the  open  and,  whether 
men  will  hear  or  forbear,  fearless  of  consequences  and 
indiflFerent  to  tenure  of  office,  let  him  declare  the  truth 
as  the  God  whom  he  professes  to  serve  has  given  him 
to  understand  it. 

We  are  sadly  in  need  of  two  classes  of  men  in  these 
days.  On  the  one  hand  we  want  infidels,  outspoken 
infidels,  who  will  take  their  places  in  the  open  and  lift 
up  their  banners  against  Zion.  Where  are  the  atheists 
who  deny  God?  Where  are  the  brave  scoflFers  who 
defied  Jehovah  and  ran  headlong  on  the  bosses  of  his 
shield  ?  Where  is  Goliath  with  his  spear  like  a  weaver's 
beam  ?    Where  are  the  fierce  wolves  of  the  wilderness  ? 


THE    TROJAN    HORSE  173 

Alas,  these  days  of  ours  are  the  degenerate  days  of 
wolves  clad  in  wool  and  mingling  with  the  sheep,  of 
Doeg  the  Edomite  skulking  behind  the  altar,  of  Shimei 
in  ambush  throwing  stones  at  the  King. 

And,  on  the  other  hand  we  want  believers ;  stalwart 
believers,  who  know  the  truth  and  knowing  dare  main- 
tain. There  is  no  room  for  Epicenes,  "  middle-of-the- 
road  "  men,  Redwalds  with  the  motto  ''  In  utramque 
paratus/'  professing  to  stand  on  neutral  ground  while 
sympathetically  and  practically  opposing  themselves  to 
Christ  and  His  Gospel.  Everywhere  the  call  is  for 
men  to  follow  Him;  men  of  conviction,  and  of  cour- 
age to  speak  forth  the  last  atom  of  their  conviction ; 
men  who  do  not  mince  nor  mouthe  nor  mumble  in  their 
utterance,  but  by  faith  proclaim,  "  These  things  we 
know !  "  men  who  to  the  full  measure  of  their  light 
shine  forth  and  withhold  not  aught  of  the  whole  coun- 
sel of  God. 


XIV 
ATTACKING  THE  CITADEL 

IS  it  true  that  Christianity  stands  or  falls  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  ?  So  Paul 
affirms  (I  Cor.  xv :  12-19).  It  would  appear  to 
be  a  dangerous  admission,  and  certainly  it  is  in  vio- 
lation of  a  maxim  prevalent  in  commercial  life ;  to  wit, 
"  It  is  unwise  to  carry  all  your  eggs  in  one  basket." 

The  words  of  Paul  are  in  the  nature  of  a  suggestion 
as  to  tactics.  Suppose  the  enemy  were  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it?  Paul  knew  the  far-reaching  possibilities 
of  his  proposition  and  was  willing  to  abide  the  issue. 
If  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  goes,  he  says,  all 
goes. 

And  Christ  Himself  made  the  same  intimation : 
when  the  Jews  required  of  Him  a  sign,  he  answered, 
"  I  will  give  you  no  sign  but  the  sign  of  the  Prophet 
Jonas;  three  days  in  the  belly  of  hell,  and  then  life 
and  immortality  brought  to  light."  And  so  the  Chief 
Priests  and  Pharisees  understood  it;  for  they  came  to 
Pilate  saying,  ''  We  remember  that  that  deceiver  said, 
while  He  was  yet  alive,  After  three  days  I  will  rise 
again.  Command  therefore  that  the  sepulchre  be  made 
sure  lest  His  disciples  come  by  night  and  steal  Him 
away,  and  say  unto  the  people,  '  He  is  risen  from  the 
dead.' "  They  knew  that  His  triumph  over  death 
would  present  an  irrefutable  argument  in  favour  of 
His  utmost  claims.     And  Pilate  consented  to  their  de- 

175 


176        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

mand,  saying,  "  Ye  have  your  watch ;  go  your  way ; 
make  it  as  sure  as  you  can." 

So  it  appears  that  if  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  be 
estabUshed,  His  Gospel  is  secure;  otherwise  He  is 
branded  as  an  impostor,  and  Christianity  is  a  vain  and 
empty  thing. 

H  these  things  are  so,  what  an  immense  amount  of 
energy  is  wasted  by  the  enemy  in  assaiUng  the  Gospel 
at  other  points !  Plainly,  the  campaign  is  being  mis- 
managed. Paul's  tactical  suggestion  is  a  wise  one. 
Why  should  they  attack  the  Church  or  the  Bible  or 
the  Incarnation  or  the  Atonement  or  any  other  point  in 
the  defenses?  Here  is  the  citadel.  So  long  as  that 
holds  out  the  Gospel  stands.  Let  that  be  reduced  and 
everything  is  lost.  If  dynamite  can  be  placed  under 
the  foundations  of  the  citadel  and  successfully  exploded 
we  may  as  well  surrender;  our  cause  is  blown  into 
the  air. 

This  is  the  point  of  Paul's  proposition  in  the  fif- 
teenth chapter  of  First  Corinthians.  As  an  old-time 
enemy  of  the  Gospel  he  knew  precisely  what  he  was 
saying  and  how  valuable  his  suggestion  might  be  to 
the  enemies  of  Christ.  Yet  he  was  willing  to  risk  the 
consequences,  because  he  knew  to  a  certainty  what  the 
result  would  be. 

His  first  statement,  is  If  you  can  show  that  Christ 
did  not  rise  from  the  dead,  ''  then  is  our  preaching 
vain."  Why  so  ?  What  was  Paul  preaching  and  what 
have  men  been  preaching  from  then  until  now?  Here 
is  the  substance  and  sum  total  of  it :  Christ  is  our 
Prophet,  our  Priest  and  our  King. 

As  our  Prophet,  or  authoritative  Teacher,  He  in- 
structs in  spiritual  things ;   and  His  authority  rests  on 


ATTACKING    THE   CITADEL     177 

His  credentials  from  God.  To  be  sure,  His  precepts 
stand  upon  their  own  merit,  in  any  case ;  but  the  resur- 
rection miracle  creates  an  antecedent  presumption  in 
their  favour,  without  which  He  can  speak  only  as 
Plato  spoke  or  Epictetus  or  Sakya-muni  or  Confucius 
or  any  other  wise  man.  An  ounce  of  gold  dust  has  as 
much  intrinsic  value  as  a  gold  eagle,  but  it  does  not 
pass  current  among  men  until  it  receives  '*  the  image 
and  superscription  of  the  king."  If  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ  be  true,  then  the  authority  of  a  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  "  rests  on  all  His  words :  while  without  it 
He  is  simply  one  of  many  teachers  among  men. 

We  preach,  also,  that  Christ  is  our  Priest. 

In  ministering  at  the  altar  in  our  behalf  He  super- 
sedes all  other  priests ;  and  His  Atonement  supplants 
all  other  sacrifices,  being  made  "  once  for  all."  Now 
this  is  not  merely  the  fundamental  fact  of  our  preach- 
ing, it  is  the  very  heart  of  the  believers'  faith.  It  is 
immensely  important,  therefore,  that  it  should  be 
clearly  and  satisfactorily  verified ;  and  this  verification 
is  found  in  His  Resurrection,  and  there  only.  This 
miracle  bears  to  the  sacerdotal  work  of  Jesus  the  same 
relation  precisely  which  the  budding  of  Aaron's  rod 
bore  to  his  priesthood ;  that  is,  it  certifies  that  His 
sacrifice  is  authorized  of  God  and  approved  by  Him. 
If  His  Resurrection  were  to  be  discredited,  the  death 
of  Jesus  would  still  remain  one  of  the  most  pathetic 
tragedies  in  history:  or,  to  put  it  in  Renan's  words, 
"  His  legend  must  call  forth  tears  without  end  and 
His  sufferings  melt  the  noblest  heart."  But  Renan 
denied  the  Divinity  of  Jesus,  and  therefore  held  that 
His  death  had  nothing  more  to  do  with  our  salvation 
than  that  of  any  other  good  man.      The  illustrated 


178         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

edition  of  his  Vie  de  Jesus  closed  with  the  word  "  Fin," 
under  which  was  a  rude  woodcut  of  the  Crucifixion 
representing  a  man  of  the  peasant  class,  his  head  sunk 
upon  his  breast  in  an  attitude  of  utter,  agonizing  des- 
pair. A  sight,  indeed,  to  move  all  noblest  hearts,  yet 
fitly  accompanied  by  the  word  "  fin ;  "  since,  so  far 
as  his  claims  to  Messianic  and  Salvatory  power  were 
concerned,  for  him  death  ended  all. 

And  we  preach  also,  that  Christ  is  "  King  over  all 
and  blessed  forever." 

At  the  close  of  His  redemptive  work  He  returned 
to  heaven  to  reassume  the  glory  which  He  had  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  was;  where  from  His 
high  throne  He  rules  by  the  power  of  His  Spirit  all 
nations  and  the  children  of  men.  But  if  it  can  be 
shown  that  death  held  and  still  holds  dominion  over 
Him,  then  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  our  as- 
cription of  royalty  vanishes  into  thin  air.  It  is  re- 
lated of  Saladin,  the  historic  leader  of  the  great  cam- 
paigns of  Islam,  that  in  his  last  illness  he  required  of 
his  attendants  that,  instead  of  hanging  the  imperial 
standards  at  the  gate  of  the  palace  as  was  customary 
when  a  royal  death  occurred,  they  should  display 
his  shroud,  with  the  proclamation,  "  Death  hath  con- 
quered Saladin  the  conqueror  of  the  East !  "  A  like 
confession  must  be  made  as  to  Jesus  Christ  if  He 
did  not  issue  from  the  sepulchre  on  the  third  day. 
Let  the  shroud  take  the  place  of  the  royal  standards, 
since  the  King  of  Terrors  has  triumphed  over  Him. 

The  saving  virtue  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  com- 
prehensive summary  of  our  preaching,  lies  in  the  fact 
that  Jesus  is  thus  our  Prophet,  Priest  and  King:  as 
Prophet,  setting  forth  His  divine  claim  to  infallibility 


ATTACKING   THE   CITADEL     179 

in  the  province  of  truth;  as  Priest,  making  atonement 
for  our  sins ;  and  as  King,  asserting  His  abiUty  "  to 
save  unto  the  uttermost  all  that  will  come  unto  Him." 
But  if  the  appointed  sign  of  His  preminence  as 
Prophet,  Priest  and  King  has  failed,  then  our  preach- 
ing is  vain  and  the  confidence  of  those  who  have  be- 
lieved it  is  betrayed,  since,  as  Paul  says,  they  "  are  yet 
in  their  sins." 

So  we  come  to  the  second  result  which,  as  Paul 
says,  must  follow  the  disproving  of  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ,  namely,  ''  Yotir  faith  also  is  vain."  Your 
faith  in  what?  There  are  three  things  which  Chris- 
tians are  expected  to  believe  with  all  their  hearts ;  and 
these  constitute  the  essential  substance  of  their  faith. 

They  are  expected  to  believe  that  Jesus,  as  the  long- 
looked-for  Messiah,  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners. 

He  claimed  to  be  that  Messiah,  "  whom  kings  and 
prophets  longed  to  see  and  died  without  the  sight." 
To  the  woman  of  Samaria  who  expressed  a  longing 
to  see  the  Messiah  He  said,  ''  I  that  speak  unto  thee 
am  He."  As  the  Messiah  He  claimed  to  be  coequal 
with  the  Father,  being  His  only-begotten  and  well- 
beloved  Son :  saying  "  I  and  My  Father  are  one." 
And  the  demonstration  of  the  verity  of  His  claim  lies 
in  His  Resurrection ;  as  it  is  written,  "  He  showed 
Himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power  by  His 
Resurrection  from  the  dead."  This  had  been  pro- 
phetically set  forth  as  the  sign  of  His  Messiahship; 
as  where  it  is  written,  "  I  will  declare  the  decree ;  the 
Lord  hath  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  Thee : "  and  again,  "  For  Thou  wilt 
not  leave  My  soul  in  the  grave,  neither  wilt  Thou 
suffer  Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption  "  (Ps.  xvi:  lo). 


180  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  confidence  of  be- 
lievers in  Him  is  wholly  misplaced  if  He  did  not  rise 
from  the  dead. 

They  are  required  to  believe,  also,  that  though  He 
ascended  into  the  heavens  He  is  still  really  and  pef-^ 
sonally  with  them. 

His  promise  is,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Now  this  means  im- 
measurably more  than  that  His  memory  is  an  abiding 
memory,  or  that  His  influence  survives  Him.  Any 
man  may  say,  as  Sheridan  did  when  dying,  "  I  am 
called  away  to  meet  an  imperative  engagement,  but  my 
character  will  stay  behind  me :  "  but  Christ  promises 
more,  and  His  people  expect  more  of  Him.  He  is 
"  an  ever-present  help  in  time  of  trouble : "  a  present 
Saviour ;  a  present  Comforter  in  the  stress  of  tempta- 
tion, under  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  and  in  the 
gathering  twilight  of  "  the  hour  that  trieth  the  soul 
of  a  man."  But  this,  also,  is  a  delusion,  a  mere 
dream,  a  comfortable  hallucination,  if  the  story  of 
Joseph's  garden  be  resolved  into  a  myth.  For  then 
He  suffered  the  common  doom  of  humankind.  His 
body  returning  to  the  earth  as  it  was  and  His  Spirit  to 
God  who  gave  it;  naught  remains  but  a  handful  of 
dust  scattered  to  the  winds. 

And,  furthermore,  believers  are  instructed  to  look 
for  His  glorious  reappearing. 

*'  Maranatha !  "  they  say  :  "  He  cometh  again  !  " 
And  His  return  is  to  be  marked  by  the  reunion  of 
saints :  as  Paul  writes  to  the  Christians  of  Thessa- 
lonica,  "  I  would  not  have  ye  to  be  ignorant,  brethren, 
concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not, 
even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.     For  if  we  believe 


ATTACKING    THE    CITADEL     181 

that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  also  them  which 
slee^  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him." 

As  for  thy  friends,  they  are  not  lost; 

The   several  vessels  of  thy  fleet, 
Though  sundered  far,  by  tempest  tossed, 

Shall  safely  in  the  harbour  meet. 

But  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  this  also  is  a  dream.  He 
shall  not  "  so  come  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go  into 
heaven ;  "  nor  is  there  any  ground  for  believing  in  the 
glad  day  of  ''  knitting  severed  friendships  up." 

The  conclusion  of  Paul,  therefore,  "  Then  are  we  of 
all  men  most  miserable,"  is  an  inevitable  sequence. 
We  are  miserable  in  our  rude  awaking  from  a  most 
delightful  dream.  We  thought  He  came  to  save  us : 
we  felt  ourselves  supported  amid  the  cares  and  burdens 
of  life  by  His  abiding  presence :  we  fondly  looked  for 
His  return  and  the  return  of  our  beloved  with  Him. 
But,  farewell !  farewell !  ''  If  Christ  be  not  risen  your 
faith  is  vain." 

The  third  conclusion  of  Paul,  in  case  the  doctrine  of 
the  Resurrection  should  be  refuted,  is  that  we  ''  are 
found  false  witnesses  of  God,  because  we  have  testified 
of  God  that  He  raised  up  Christ."  The  "  we  "  in  this 
case  includes  all  followers  of  Christ,  since  all  are  offi- 
cially appointed  and  commissioned  to  be  witnesses  for 
Him. 

The  masterstroke  of  tactical  opposition  is  here 
pointed  out ;  impeach  the  witnesses !  If  this  can  be 
accomplished,  the  case,  which  carries  with  it  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  entire  Christian  religion,  is  summarily 
thrown  out  of  court. 

One  of  the  witnesses  indicated  is  Paul  himself,  who 


182         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

says,  ''  Last  of  all  He  was  seen  of  me  also,  as  one 
born  out  of  due  season."  The  reference  was  to  his 
conversion  on  the  Damascus  highway,  when  he  heard 
the  Voice  saying,  "  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  perse- 
cutest  :  "  and  straightway  he  answered,  "  Lord,  what 
wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?  "  It  has  been  affirmed  that 
this  was  merely  a  spiritual  communication  and  not  a 
personal  appearance  at  all :  but,  obviously,  nothing  is 
gained  by  giving  this  turn  to  the  argument,  since  it 
involves  such  a  concession  of  the  supernatural  as 
would  leave  the  difficulty  more  unsolved  than  ever. 

And  it  would  still  be  necessary  to  impugn  the  testi- 
mony of  Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other  women;  of 
Peter  and  the  two  men  of  Emmaus ;  of  the  seven  apos- 
tles who  affirmed  that  they  saw  Jesus  in  the  upper 
room ;  of  the  eleven,  who  saw  Him  afterwards  on  the 
sea  shore  and  again  upon  the  mountain;  of  James, 
who  held  a  solitary  interview  with  Him ;  and  of  the 
"  more  than  five  hundred  brethren  "  of  whom  Paul 
wrote  A.  D.  59,  "  the  greater  part  remain  unto  this 
present ;  "  and  also  of  that  considerable  company  who 
saw  Him  on  the  day  of  His  Ascension.  It  is  indeed 
a  trifle  late  to  endeavour  to  reach  and  cross-question 
these  witnesses,  whose  testimony  seems  not  to  have 
been  doubted,  certainly  not  refuted,  while  they  were 
living  and  able  to  speak  for  themselves.  And  the 
cumulative  evidence  which  they  gave  has  appeared  to 
judicial  minds,  like  Whately  and  Blackstone,  to  be  so 
massive  as  to  forbid  all  serious  effort  to  invalidate  it. 

And  how  about  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses  who, 
all  along  the  centuries,  have  testified,  out  of  the  depths 
of  their  religious  experience,  that  He  who  was  dead 
liveth  and  is  alive  forever  more,  and  that  they  have  held 


ATTACKING    THE    CITADEL     183 

and  are  ever  holding  communion  with  Him?  There 
are  some  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  to-day  who 
bear  such  testimony.  And  it  can  be  said  without  fear 
of  contradiction,  and  speaking  within  bounds,  that 
among  them  are  a  vast  number  of  upright,  liberally 
educated  and  thoughtful  men.  The  only  possibility  of 
controverting  this  evidence  is  to  subject  it  to  what  is 
called  the  "  scientific  test ;  "  that  is,  to  deny  the  reality 
of  everything  that  lies  outside  the  circumscription  of 
the  physical  senses.  It  is  true  that  spiritual  things  are 
to  be  apprehended  only  by  faith ;  and  if  faith  be  ruled 
out,  all  things  supernatural  vanish,  as  life  itself  dis- 
appears when  the  surgeon  with  his  scalpel  pursues  it. 
If  the  brain  is  merely  phosphorus  and  thought  the 
result  of  atomic  friction,  if  a  man  is  only  a  stomach 
with  its  appurtenances ;  if  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
religious  experience,  then  the  testimony  of  this  multi- 
tude of  living  witnesses. to  the  risen  Christ  is  properly 
ruled  out  of  court :   but  not  otherwise. 

What  then  ?  We  must  close  our  churches ;  since 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  are  proven  to  be  false  wit- 
nesses. Othello's  occupation's  gone.  Falsus  in  tmo, 
falsus  in  omnibus.  Certainly  if  these  witnesses  are 
impeached  as  to  their  testimony  concerning  the  great 
fundamental  fact  of  the  Gospel,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  lending  an  ear  to  their  presentation  of  other 
details  and  particulars.  Call  in  the  evangelists  and 
missionaries  also,  who  are  crossing  the  oceans  and 
climbing  the  mountains  and  penetrating  to  the  regions 
of  darkness  to  declare  the  Gospel.  All  are  false  wit- 
nesses :  call  them  in ! 

If  such  results,  so  dire  and  calamitous  to  Chris- 
tianity, would  follow  the  overthrow  of  the  Doctrine 


184  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  the  Resurrection,  why  is  it  that  Christ's  enemies 
have  not  accompHshed  it?  And,  above  all,  why  do 
they  not  concentrate  their  attacks  upon  this  citadel 
of  the  faith?  Why  do  they  persist  in  aiming  their 
siege  guns  at  points  of  relatively  subordinate  value? 
Ah,  experience  teaches. 

We  are  informed  that  the  new  railway  which  is 
being  constructed  through  Utah  to  the  Pacific  Coast 
has  met  with  a  sudden  check.  In  building  across  an 
arm  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  a  sink  hole  was  found, 
which  seemed  to  indicate  an  underground  outlet. 
Some  thousands  of  carloads  of  earth  were  dumped  into 
it;  and  seven  steel  piles  were  driven  one  upon  the 
other.  A  few  days  ago  a  train  was  run  across  this 
structure  and  on  reaching  the  critical  place  the  track 
suddenly  sank,  and  with  it  locomotive,  tender  and  all. 
Now  they  propose  to  run  the  line  some  other  way.  It 
is  for  a  like  reason  that  the  oft-repeated  attack  upon 
the  Doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  has  been  practically 
given  up.  What  a  vast  amount  of  dialectic  energy 
has  been  dumped  into  it !  What  libraries  of  argument, 
in  vain !  Was  it  not  so  prophesied  ?  "  The  kings  of 
the  earth  do  set  themselves,  and  the  rulers  take  counsel 
against  Him ;  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh ;   the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision !  " 

But  somehow,  Christ  must  be  kept  in  His  sepulchre. 
Pilate  was  right :  ''  Ye  have  a  watch ;  go  your  way ; 
make  it  as  sure  as  you  can."  And  it  is  written,  ''  They 
went  and  made  the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone 
and  setting  a  watch."  And  God,  out  of  heaven, 
laughed !  A  strong  angel  came  down  and  rolled  away 
the  stone.  The  guards  fell  as  dead  men.  And  He 
came  forth,  wiping  the  death-dew  from  His  brow.     So 


ATTACKING   THE    CITADEL      185 

is  come  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is 
swallowed  up  in  victory.  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?  The  sting  of  death  is 
sin;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks 
be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

But  if  the  adversary  fail  to  keep  Christ  down,  what 
then  ?  The  witnessing  must  go  on.  *'  Go  quickly," 
said  the  angel  at  the  sepulchre,  "  and  tell  the  disciples 
that  He  is  risen  from  the  dead !  "  We  must  needs  go 
and  tell  the  world.  Tell  the  world  that  Christ  came, 
as  the  Messiah ;  that  He  lived  a  spotless  life,  to  show 
what  character  is  and  what  men  should  be;  that  He 
died,  bearing  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree; 
and  that  He  rose  again,  placing  the  seal  of  divine 
authority  on  His  Messianic  claims  and  redemptive 
work.  Go  tell  the  world  that  life  and  immortality  are 
brought  to  light  through  Him.  Go  say  that  the  faith 
of  His  followers  is  not  in  vain  and  that  those  who  are 
fallen  asleep  in  Christ  are  not  perished.  Go  say,  "  Now 
is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead  and  become  the  first  fruits 
of  them  that  slept ! "  That  is,  as  the  early  sheaf, 
which  was  waved  at  the  altar,  was  a  proof  and  proph- 
ecy of  the  ingathering  of  the  harvest,  so  shall  all 
God's  Acre  be  reaped  and  garnered  in  the  Great  Day. 
Go  say  that  as  death  is  but  an  episode  in  the  life-time 
of  the  seed-corn,  so  is  our  death  but  "  the  covered 
bridge,  leading  from  light  to  light  through  a  brief 
darkness."  Go  say  that  He  who  believeth  in  Christ 
hath  everlasting  life,  because  He  hath  "  shown  Himself 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power  by  His  Resurrection 
from  the  dead  "  and  hath  thereby  proven  beyond  all 
peradventure  that  He  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgivQ 
sin. 


THE  CHRISTIAN 


O  Antioch,  thou  teacher  of  the  world! 
From  out  thy  portals  passed  the  feet  of  those, 
Who,  banished  and  despised,  have  made  thy  name 
The  next  in  rank  to  proud  Jerusalem. 
Within   thy   gates   the  persecuted  few 
Who   dared  to  rally  round  the  holy  cross 
And  worship  Him  whose  sacred  form  it  bore, 
Were  first  called  Christians. 

J.  L.  Chester 


XV 
THE  CHRISTIAN  IN  PHILISTIA 

THE  beacons  were  kindled  on  the  heights  around 
the  historic  valley  of  Esdraelon  where  the 
hosts  of  Israel  were  arrayed  for  war.  To 
the  south  the  Philistines  were  preparing  to  march 
against  them;  but  there  was  trouble  in  the  ranks. 
The  officers  of  Achish  had  observed  David  and  his 
followers  in  the  rear  ranks,  and  they  made  earnest  and 
immediate  protest :  "  What  do  these  Hebrews  here  ?  " 
(I  Sam.  xxix:3).  It  was  indeed  a  strange  and  in- 
congruous situation.  But  David  had  been  so  long  a 
fugitive,  hunted  like  a  partridge  among  the  mountains, 
that  he  was  at  his  wit's  end.  And,  moved  by  the 
magnanimity  of  Achish  who  had  sheltered  him  in  his 
exile,  he  begged  to  enlist  under  his  banners.  Just 
there  he  was  in  danger  of  making  the  mistake  of  his 
life.  Had  he  not  lost  the  fine  edge  of  his  moral  per- 
ception, he  could  not  for  a  moment  have  dreamed  of 
falling  into  line  with  those  who  were  marching  to 
battle  against  his  own  people.  The  Lords  of  the  Phil- 
istines saw  the  ambiguity  of  his  position  if  he  did  not ; 
and  their  protest  was  well-taken  and  well-timed : 
"  Make  this  fellow  return,"  they  said ;  and  David  and 
his  men  drew  off. 

An  old  proverb  runs,  Disce  ah  hosfe — "  Learn  from 
those  who  are  opposed  to  you."  The  world  has  a  clear 
opinion  as  to  what  should  be  expected  of  the  followers 

189 


190         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  Christ :  and  "  there's  wit  there,  ye'U  get  there,  ye'll 
find  nae  itherwhere."  No  higher  tribute  is  paid  to  the 
super-excellence  of  Christianity  than  the  criticisms 
which  are  passed  upon  the  inconsistencies  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ;  for  in  calling  attention  to  our  im- 
perfections the  critic  emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  re- 
ligion which  we  so  inadequately  represent  is  a  magnifi- 
cent religion  and  the  Christ  whom  we  so  awkwardly 
and  unsuccessfully  follow  is  the  perfect  One. 

The  world  can  read  the  Bible ;  it  understands,  more- 
over, the  rules  of  service  laid  down  by  our  Lord ;  and 
its  interpretation  of  those  rules  is  perhaps  more  rigid 
than  that  of  the  Church,  for  the  very  reason  that  it 
does  not  itself  propose  to  obey  them.  It  views  them 
with  a  cold,  impersonal,  critical  eye.  Not  for  a  mo- 
ment does  the  world  propose  to  conform  to  our  faith, 
but  it  holds  us  rigidly  to  it. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  public  opinion  is  our  ulti- 
mate rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Far  from  it;  but 
public  opinion  is  not  without  significance.  We  cannot 
afford  to  be  oblivious  of  what  the  Lords  of  the  Phil- 
istines say  about  us. 

O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  ithers  see  us; 
It  wad  frae  mony  a  blunder  free  us 
And  foolish  notion. 

At  the  outset,  the  world  knows  that  we  are  "  a 
peculiar  people  "  and  that  as  such  we  have  no  busi- 
ness in  the  Philistines'  ranks. 

We  do  not  like  to  be  called  ''  peculiar,"  but  no  alter- 
native is  left  us.  It  is  written  of  Christ,  ''  He  gave 
Himself  for  us  that  He  might  redeem  us   from  all 


THE    CHRISTIAN    IN   PHILISTIA  191 

iniquity  and  purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  people." 
The  word  is  from  pecus,  "  a  flock/'  and  it  suggests 
the  segregation  of  those  who  follow  Christ. 

We  are  distinguished  by  marks  or  "  stigmata,"  clear 
and  unmistakable.  These  are  not  superficial.  A  Chris- 
tian, be  he  layman  or  minister,  is  not  to  be  known 
merely  by  his  "  cloth "  or  outward  forms  of  piety. 
The  Lord  expressed  Himself  in  startling  terms  as  to 
fringes  and  phylacteries,  long  prayers  at  the  corner  of 
the  streets  and  almsgiving  with  the  blare  of  trumpets. 
The  real  marks  of  a  Christian  are  those  which  indicate 
an  inward  change  manifesting  itself  in  the  outer  life. 

One  of  these  is  Regeneration,  or  ''  the  gainbirth  " 
as  the  fathers  were  fond  of  calling  it.  A  Christian  is 
understood  to  be  a  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus ;  old 
things  have  passed  away,  all  things  are  become  new. 
He  has  a  new  heart,  conscience  and  will ;  new  thoughts, 
purposes  and  aspirations ;  a  new  way  of  looking  at 
things ;  new  tastes  and  appetites ;  new  visions  of  the 
future  life. 

And  another  of  these  marks  is  Sanctification.  A 
Christian  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  while 
not  perfect  nor  professing  to  be,  is  bound  to  be  grow- 
ing better  from  day  to  day.  On  the  one  hand  he  is 
delivered  from  the  penalty  of  past  sin ;  "  the  hand- 
writing of  ordinances/'  which  was  against  him,  having 
been  nailed  to  his  Saviour's  cross.  His  sins  are  blotted 
out,  sunk  in  the  depths  of  an  unfathomable  sea,  cast 
behind  the  back  of  God.  On  the  other  hand  he  is 
consecrated  to  holiness.  His  conscience  is  so  quick- 
ened that  it  has  become  sensitive  to  the  mere  appear- 
ance of  evil.  He  so  feels  the  lingering  bondage  of  sin- 
ful habit  that  he  longs  to  be  delivered  from  "  the  body 


192        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  this  death."  He  hates  sin,  grieves  under  the  sense 
of  it,  loathes  it,  abhors  it.  All  this  is  clearly  involved 
in  our  profession.  This  is  matter  of  common  fame; 
it  is  known  to  the  world ;  the  Lords  of  the  Philistines 
imderstand  it. 

The  world  knows  also  that  we,  as  Christians,  have 
a  creed,  and  it  expects  us  to  believe  it. 

We  have  accepted  Christ  as  our  Prophet,  or  Teacher 
in  spiritual  things ;  and  we  call  ourselves  *'  disciples," 
because  we  sit  learning  at  His  feet.  And  when  He 
speaks  of  God  as  our  Father,  of  man  as  a  sinner,  and 
of  Himself  as  the  only  Saviour,  it  looks  to  see  us 
receive  these  elemental  truths,  together  with  all  other 
teachings  of  Jesus,  without  a  word  of  demur  or  a 
moment  of  hesitation.  We  have  no  room  for  an 
opinion  or  a  "  theory  "  beyond  his  ipse  dixit.  His 
word  is  ultimate.     Our  creed  is  what  He  says. 

A  leader  in  a  recent  political  campaign  was  heard 
to  say  that  the  platform  of  his  party  went  for  nothing ; 
and  for  this  he  was  immediately  set  down  in  public 
opinion  as  a  demagogue.  For  it  is  understood  that  the 
candidate  of  a  political  party  must  in  honour  be  true 
to  its  principles.  The  same  holds  in  the  matter  before 
us.  A  man  who  professes  the  Christian  religion  may 
deny  its  fundamental  tenets ;  but,  in  that  case,  what- 
ever he  may  think  of  himself,  the  people  are  aware 
that  he  is  wearing  false  colors,  and  the  Lords  of  the 
Philistines  have  a  genuine  contempt  for  him. 

The  world  knows,  furthermore,  that  we  have  a 
moral  code;    and  it  expects  us  to  live  up  to  it. 

In  the  precepts  of  the  Decalogue,  as  interpreted  by 
our  Lord  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Blount,  we  have  our 
symbol  of  practical  life.     In  pursuance  of  these  pre- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  IN  PHILISTIA  193 

cepts  we  are  expected  to  be  pure,  upright,  honest  in 
all  our  dealings  with  our  fellow  men;  to  respect  our 
neighbour's  rights  of  life  and  property;  to  honour  the 
Divine  Name,  remember  the  Sabbath  day,  and  be  hum- 
ble and  reverent  before  God.  Our  constant  temptation 
is  conformity  to  the  world ;  but,  being  in  the  world, 
we  are  bound  to  live  as  pilgrims  passing  through  it. 
We  are  to  hold  ourselves  aloof  from  its  evil  ways,  like 
the  three  youths  in  Babylon,  like  Lot  in  Sodom,  like 
Jonah  in  Nineveh,  like  Paul  in  Athens.  Are  we  ever 
moved  to  ask,  *'  How  far  can  I  go  into  this  or  that 
without  compromising  my  Lord  or  my  religion  ? " 
Think  of  a  bride  asking  how  far  she  can  go  into  im- 
propriety without  compromising  the  honour  of  her 
husband !  The  soul  of  a  Christian,  being  betrothed 
to  his  Lord,  must  be  kept  unspotted  from  the  world. 
Wherefore  it  is  written,  "  Be  ye  not  conformed  to  this 
world ;  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good,  and  ac- 
ceptable and  perfect  will  of  God." 

Our  unbelieving  friends  know  still  further,  that  we 
are  under  a  definite  commission,  and  they  expect  us 
to  honour  it. 

Our  Lord  came  to  set  up  a  kingdom  of  truth  and 
righteousness  on  earth ;  and  to  His  followers  He  said, 
*'  Seek  ye  first  of  all  the  kingdom."  We  seek  this 
kingdom  by  declaring  the  evangel  and  doing  good  as 
we  have  opportunity  unto  all  men. 

Now  suppose  that  a  man  who  professes  to  follow 
Christ  is  found  to  be  wholly  absorbed  in  the  pursuit 
of  wealth  or  pleasure  or  sordid  ambition,  living  as  if 
the  perishable  things  of  this  world  were  all  or  the 
most  important  part  of  life,  what  shall  be  thought  of 


194       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

him?  ''No  man  that  warreth  entangleth  hunself  with 
the  affairs  of  this  Hfe,  that  he  may  please  him  who 
hath  chosen  him  to  be  a  soldier."  The  Lords  of  the 
Philistines  know  this ;  and  they  cannot  but  conclude 
that  an  avowed  Christian  who  yields  himself  to  worldly 
pursuits  and  gives  but  the  superflux  of  his  time  and 
energy  to  the  things  of  the  kingdom,  is  false  to  his 
marching  orders.  And  this  is  a  just  opinion;  the  facts 
warrant  it. 

Again,  the  world  expects  a  Christian  to  respect 
himself. 

To  be  humble?  Aye;  but  with  that  humility  of 
which  John  Milton  speaks, — "  a  lowly  loftiness  of  mind 
which  is  exalted  by  its  own  humiliation."  We  would 
not  forget  that  significant  episode  in  the  upper  room 
when  Jesus  washed  the  feet  of  His  disciples,  saying 
to  them,  "  I  have  given  you  an  example  that  ye  also 
should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you."  We  are  indeed  to 
be  humble  in  view  of  our  sins,  our  littleness  by  nature, 
and  our  utter  dependence  on  the  heavenly  grace.  But 
never,  never,  must  we  forget  that  by  that  heavenly 
grace  we  are  called  to  be  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
living  God ;  "  and  if  sons,  then  heirs ;  heirs  of  God 
and  joint-heirs  with  Christ"  to  an  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible and  undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not  away.  The 
humility  of  Uriah  Heep  is  not  Christian.  The  truck- 
ling subserviency  of  Chadband  and  Pecksniff  is  not 
Christian.  We  are  conscious  of  our  infirmity  and  ill- 
desert  :  "  We  are  not  what  we  ought  to  be,  we  are 
not  what  we  mean  to  be,  but  by  the  grace  of  God  we 
are  what  we  are."  And  better  things  are  reserved  for 
us.  "  Now  are  we  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be." 


THE  CHRISTIAN  IN  PHILISTIA  195 

It  is  reasonably  expected  of  us  also,  by  those  who 
are  not  of  the  household  of  faith,  that  we  should  love 
the  brethren. 

For  this  is  one  of  the  distinctive  marks  which  our 
Lord  put  upon  us :  '*  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that 
ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another." 
It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  envy,  jealousy  and  cen- 
sorious judgment  are  ruled  out.  The  enemies  of  Jesus 
were  accustomed  to  say  of  the  members  of  the  primi- 
tive Church,  "  Behold,  how  these  Christians  love  one 
another  !  "  That  was  a  gracious  tribute  to  the  sincerity^ 
of  their  faith.  It  is  well  to  sing  in  our  public  ser- 
vices, *'  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds  our  hearts  in  Chris- 
tian love ; "  but  when  in  our  churches  we  erect  social 
barriers  which  take  precedence  of  the  rule  of  fellow- 
ship, it  is  obvious  to  the  world  that  there  is  something 
wrong.  If  there  come  into  our  assembly  a  man  with 
a  gold  ring,  in  goodly  apparel,  and  there  come  in  also 
a  poor  man  in  vile  raiment ;  and  we  have  respect  to 
him  that  weareth  the  gay  clothing,  and  say  unto  him, 
"  Sit  thou  here  in  a  good  place ; "  and  say  to  the  poor, 
*'  Stand  thou  there,"  or  "  Sit  here  under  my  foot- 
stool : "  are  we  not  then  partial  in  ourselves  ?  And 
do  we  not  give  occasion  to  thoughtful  critics  to  say, 
"  The  teaching  of  Jesus  was  right ;  but  there  is  one 
lesson  which  these  Christians  have  not  learned  of 
Him." 

And  the  world  expects  of  the  followers  of  Christ 
that  they  will  have  a  passion  for  souls. 

It  is  written  of  our  Master,  "  He  had  compassion 
on  the  multitude."  He  said  of  Himself  that  He  had 
come  into  the  world  "  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost ; " 
and  to  His  discipjes  He  said,  "As  the  Father  hath  sent 


196         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Me  into  the  world,  so  send  I  you."  The  woman  seek- 
ing the  lost  coin,  the  shepherd  going  out  on  the  dark 
mountains  after  the  lost  sheep,  the  father  awaiting  the 
return  of  the  prodigal  from  beyond  the  hills ;  in  these 
we  have  a  portrayal  of  the  seeking  Son  of  God.  He 
seeks  the  lost.  The  lost !  He  so  regarded  men :  as 
lost  to  truth,  to  righteousness,  to  their  own  high  des- 
tiny, to  heaven  and  God.  We  shall  never  catch  His 
spirit  of  earnestness  until  we  also  regard  the  impeni- 
tent as  lost.  So  long  as  we  minimize  sin,  so  long  as 
we  interpose  doubts  and  questions  as  to  its  just  pen- 
alty, so  long  as  we  perm.it  the  suggestion  that  there  is 
any  other  way  of  salvation  except  the  royal  way  of 
the  cross,  we  shall  be  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  our  fel- 
low men.  The  world  knows  what  Jesus  taught  about 
this ;  and  when  it  finds  us  standing  idle  in  the  market- 
place, with  the  multitude  passing  by,  lock  step,  quick 
step,  on  their  way  to  eternal  death,  it  concludes,  with 
just  reason,  that  we  do  not  believe  what  Jesus  said 
and  are  not  alive  to  the  tremendous  duty  and  responsi- 
bility which  He  laid  upon  us. 

In  general  terms,  it  is  expected  of  us  that  we  will 
follow  Christ. 

This  is  suggested  by  our  name.  We  did  not  call 
ourselves  Christians ;  the  world  so  called  us.  The  title 
was  first  given  by  the  people  of  Antioch  in  derision; 
and  they  spake  better  than  they  meant.  We  are  Chris- 
tians because  we  profess  to  follow  Christ.  We  are 
not  our  own ;  we  are  ''  bought  with  a  price ;  not  silver 
and  gold,  but  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus,  as  of  a  lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot."  As  such  we  are 
bound  to  follow  Him,  as  sheep  follow  their  shepherd, 
soldiers  their  leader,  travellers  their  guide.     Whither 


THE   CHRISTIAN   IN   PHILISTIA  197 

shall  we  follow  Him?  Wherever  His  footsteps  lead 
us.  To  the  sanctuary  ?  Yes ;  "  He  entered  into  the 
synagogue  as  His  custom  was."  To  the  closet?  Yes; 
"  cold  mountains  and  the  midnight  air  witnessed  the 
fervor  of  His  prayer.'*  To  the  oracles?  Yes;  He 
was  ever  a  student  of  Scripture  and  revered  it.  To 
Bethesda?  Is  it  not  written,  "He  went  about  doing 
good?"  If  we  tread  in  His  footsteps,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  going  to  prisons  and  hospitals,  to  homes  of 
the  poor  and  suffering,  to  minister  unto  them.  Will 
He  lead  us  to  Gethsemane?  Can  we  drink  His  cup 
and  be  baptized  with  His  baptism?  Yea,  Lord,  we 
would  be  seen  like  Peter  ''  in  the  garden  "  with  Thee. 
Shall  we  follow  even  to  the  cross?  Blessed  be  His 
name,  the  highest  privilege  of  our  life  is  to  enter  into 
the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings  and  death  for  guilty 
men! 

And  wherever  we  go  we  are  bound  to  take  our  re- 
ligion with  us.  He  went  to  dinner  in  a  Pharisee's 
house;  but  hear  His  table-talk!  Our  profession  is 
not  like  a  garment  to  be  put  on  and  taken  off  at  pleas- 
ure; but  rather  like  the  shirt  of  Nessus,  which  could 
not  be  laid  aside  without  taking  the  flesh  with  it.  Our 
religion  must  be  in  the  very  blood  and  marrow  of  our 
bones;    it  must  be  through  and  through  us. 

It  thus  appears  that  we  are  a  watched  people.  "  We 
are  compassed  about,"  as  Paul  says,  "  by  a  great  cloud 
of  witnesses."  He  was  thinking  of  the  galleries  of 
the  Amphitheatre,  crowded  with  spectators  waiting  to 
see  how  the  athletes  would  run.  We  are  watched  in 
our  business  life,  watched  in  social  life,  watched  at 
home;  *'  little  pitchers  have  ears."  And  the  onlooking 
world  expects  great  things  of  us. 


198         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

Alas,  we  all  fall  short;  we  fall  short  of  even  the 
world's  standard  of  the  Christian  life.  There  is  this  to 
be  said,  however ;  we  are  trying :  we  have  entered  the 
race ;  we  are  reaching  forth  unto  the  things  which  are 
before  and  pressing  toward  the  mark.  Let  our  de- 
tractors do  better  if  they  can.  It  was  a  wise  word 
that  was  placed  by  the  artist  Apollodorus  over  the 
entrance  of  his  studio : 

'Tis  no  hard  thing  to  reprehend  me, 

But  let  the  man  that  blames  me  mend  me. 

It  is  no  easy  thing  to  live  an  exemplary  Christian 
life.     Come,  friends,  and  try  it ! 

But  while  we  lament  our  shortcomings,  we  rejoice 
to  know  that  our  Lord  can  be  touched  with  a  feeling 
of  our  infirmities.  **  He  remembereth  that  we  are 
dust."  He  knows  that  we  are  hampered  and  handi- 
capped by  the  remnants  of  sin  abiding  in  us.  He  is 
not  "  an  hard  man." 

And  yet  whatever  the  world  may  expect  of  us,  He 
expects  more.  His  standard  is  higher :  ''Ye  are  the 
salt  of  the  earth ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  savour, 
wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?  It  is  thenceforth  good 
for  nothing  but  to  be  cast  out  and  trodden  under  foot 
of  men."  And  again  He  says,  '*  Ye  are  the  Hght  of 
the  world ;  a  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid ;  let 
your  light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works  and  glorify  God."  We  should  not  be  un- 
mindful of  the  just  criticism  of  the  world  around  us; 
but,  after  all,  our  high  purpose  is  to  please  Him.  O, 
if  we  could  but  realize  the  great  things  which  He  hopes 
and  purposes  concerning  us ! 

The  engineer  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge  was  confined 


THE  CHRISTIAN  IN   PHILISTIA  199 

to  his  bed  while  it  was  in  process  of  construction.  Day 
after  day,  looking  from  his  window,  he  saw  its  piers 
rise  and  the  spider's  web  of  cables  cunningly  formed. 
It  had  all  been  planned  and  held  in  his  mind's  eye ; 
so  that,  when  it  was  finished,  being  asked  how  it  looked, 
he  said,  "  It  is  precisely  what  I  expected  it  to  be."  O, 
would  that  Christ  might  be  able  to  say  the  same  of  us ; 
that  our  life  and  character  are  according  to  His  plans 
and  purposes !  Let  us  devote  ourselves  to  the  task  of 
pleasing  him.  And,  whatever  other  eyes  may  be  upon 
us,  let  us  live  "  as  in  the  great  Task-master's  eye." 
So  shall  no  man  despise  us :  so  shall  God  commend  us. 


XVI 
THE  CHRISTIAN  ON  HIS  KNEES 

ALL  the  world  knows  about  the  Pretorian  Camp 
which  lay  outside  the  walls  of  Rome,  to  the 
northwest,  under  the  brow  of  the  Palatine 
Hill.  It  was  the  centre  from  which  the  imperial  le- 
gions went  forth  to  bear  the  Golden  Eagle  to  the  cor- 
ners of  the  earth.  But  the  occasion  of  the  universal 
and  perpetual  fame  of  that  Pretorian  Camp  is  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  Paul  was  a  prisoner  there  dur- 
ing the  years  pending  his  appeal  from  the  Provincial 
Court  at  Csesarea  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Empire. 
The  prefect  of  the  Guard  was  a  battle-scarred  veteran 
named  Burrus,  a  broad-minded  man.  It  was  through 
his  leniency  that  Paul  was  allowed  the  freedom  of  the 
camp,  while  occupying  his  "  own  hired  house."  The 
law  requiring  him  to  be  chained  to  a  guard  day  and 
night  could  not  be  relaxed ;  but  he  was  permitted  to 
receive  his  friends  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  such  as 
would  hear  him.  As  time  passed  the  Apostle  gathered 
around  him  a  group  of  devoted  friends,  among  whom 
was  Epaphras,  a  native  of  Colosse  and  pastor  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  that  city,  a  prisoner  in  chains  also 
for  the  Gospel's  sake. 

All  that  we  know  of  Epaphras  is  recorded  in  a  few 
brief  sentences :  but  one  of  these  is  more  significant 
than  an  elaborate  biography;  it  runs  on  this  wise, 
"  Epaphras  saluteth  you,  always  labouring  fervently 

^01 


202        CHRIST  AND   PROGRESS 

in  prayers  for  you  "  (Col.  iv :  12),  to  which  Paul  adds, 
"  I  bear  him  record  that  he  hath  a  great  zeal  for 
you." 

Now  this  occurs  in  the  letter  which  Paul  wrote  to 
the  Colossian  Church,  of  which  Epaphras  had  been 
pastor;  and  it  gives  us  to  understand  that,  though  in 
exile,  he  had  lost  none  of  his  devotion  to  his  parish. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  special  occasion  for  solicitude, 
since  "  the  Colossian  heresy,"  a  Gnostic  denial  of  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  was  just  then  making  havoc  with 
the  weaker  brethren.  Epaphras  could  do  nothing  but 
pray ;  but  this  he  did  incessantly.  The  phrase  ^'  al- 
ways labouring  fervently  in  prayers  for  you "  indi- 
cates that  he  made  this  the  constant  business  of  his 
prison  life ;  and  Paul's  "  I  bear  him  record  "  seems  to 
indicate  that  he  had  seen  Epaphras  on  his  knees,  had 
overheard  his  earnest  appeals,  had  marked  the  moving 
of  his  lips. 

All  this  is  like  a  window  opened  into  the  power- 
house of  the  Church ;  for  it  is  a  true  saying,  "A  good 
man's  prayers  will  from  the  deepest  dungeon  climb  to 
heaven's  height  and  bring  a  blessing  down."  It  was 
doubtless  an  imposing  sight  when,  from  that  Pretorian 
Camp,  the  armies  of  Csesar  marched  forth  to  war ;  but 
not  so  potent  in  enduring  results  as  were  these  "  fer- 
vent labours  "  of  Epaphras  on  his  knees.  Here  is  the 
constant  factor  in  the  problem  of  spiritual  conquest. 
It  matters  not  how  rapidly  the  world  may  move,  it 
cannot  move  away  from  the  power  of  intercessory 
prayer  any  more  than  it  can  from  the  power  of 
gravitation ;  nor  can  it  make  any  improvement 
upon  it. 

Christ  Himself  is  the  great  Intercessor. 


THE  CHRISTIAN   ON  HIS  KNEES  203 

The  significance  of  His  intercession  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  He  changes  places  with  us.  We  are  accustomed 
to  use  the  word  ''  vicarious  "  with  reference  to  His 
death ;  but  it  appHes  equally  to  his  life.  The  word  is 
derived  from  znx,  which  may  be  rendered  "  turn  "  or 
"  change,"  though  it  has  no  exact  equivalent  in  the 
English  tongue.  One  of  our  familiar  sayings  is,  "  Put 
yourself  in  his  place  ; "  by  v/hich  we  mean  that  it  is 
impossible  to  make  due  allowance  for  another  unless 
we  can  change  places  with  him.  Now  this  is  exactly 
what  Christ  did ;  He  came  into  the  world  to  identify 
Himself  with  us.  From  the  moment  vv'hen  He  as- 
sumed our  nature,  in  the  stable  at  Bethlehem,  His  life 
was,  is  and  evermore  will  be  vicarious.  He  became 
flesh ;  He  entered  into  our  estate  of  common  toil ;  He 
bare  our  sickness.  He  knew  the  heartache  of  the  mul- 
titude and  '*  had  compassion  on  them."  He  prayed 
for  them ;  He  *'  laboured  fervently  in  prayers "  for 
them.  His  life  was  one  long  intercessory  prayer,  a 
prayer  without  ceasing,  for  those  whom  He  came  to 
seek  and  save. 

For  one  moment  in  Gethsemane  He  seemed  to  pray 
for  Himself ;  "  O  My  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this 
cup  pass  from  Me  !  "  That  was  the  cry  of  the  human ; 
every  nerve  and  sinew  quivering  in  prophetic  appre- 
hension of  the  agony  of  the  cross.  Yet  before  that 
prayer  w^as  ended,  it  had  resolved  itself  into  an  utterly 
self-forgetful  plea  for  others ;  ''  O  My  Father,  if  it  be 
not  possible  that  this  cup  shall  pass  from  Me,  Thy  will 
be  done !  "  In  other  words,  '*  Whatever  may  befall 
Me,  save  Thou  the  souls  of  men !  " 

His  death  was  the  consummation  of  the  mighty 
prayer  which  pervaded  His  hfe.     The  hands  that  were 


204         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

nailed  to  the  cross  were  uplifted  to  heaven  in  pleading, 
"  Give  Me  the  heathen  for  My  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  My  possession"  (Ps. 
ii :  8)  ;  and  were  outstretched  to  sinners  in  invita- 
tion, "  Look  unto  Mc  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
be  ye  saved"  (Isa.  xlv:22).  In  the  midst  of 
the  unutterable  agony  His  prayer  found  utterance, 
"  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do !  " 

Was  it  answered?  It  was  surely  answered  in  the 
case  of  the  soldier  in  charge  of  the  execution,  who  was 
moved  to  say,  "  Verily,  this  was  the  Son  of  God."  No 
doubt  it  was  answered  in  the  case  of  many  of  the 
daughters  of  Jerusalem  who  followed  Him  to  Gol- 
gotha, weeping  and  beating  upon  their  breasts.  It 
may  be  that  some  of  the  soldiers  who,  casting  dice  in 
their  helmets,  raffled  for  His  girdle,  His  sandals  and 
His  seamless  robe,  afterwards  recalled  the  strange 
events  of  that  extraordinary  day  and  were  moved  to 
accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  from  sin. 

Nor  was  the  mighty  prayer  of  Jesus  concluded  with 
His  death.  He  ascended  into  the  heavens  where  He 
"  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us."  The  simili- 
tude is  that  of  the  High  Priest  entering  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  on  the  Great  Day  of  Atonement,  with  the  blood 
of  sacrifice  in  his  hands,  to  plead  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  people  from  their  sins :  "  For  Christ  is 
not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands, 
which  are  the  figures  of  the  true ;  but  into  heaven 
itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  " 
(Heb.  ix:  24). 

It  is  only  a  step  from  Christ  to  the  Christian. 

As  vix  is  the  keynote  of  the  Master's  life  so  must 


THE  CHRISTIAN  ON  HIS  KNEES  205 

it  be  of  ours.  To  do,  to  live,  to  die,  to  labour  fer- 
vently in  prayers  for  others ;  this  is  the  great  duty  that 
devolves  upon  us. 

Am  I  not  to  pray  for  myself,  then  ?  Yes ;  ''  With- 
out ceasing."  The  beginning  of  the  Christian  life  is 
signalized  by  one  great  prayer  which  pierces  heaven 
and  brings  salvation  down;  to  wit,  the  prayer  of  the 
dying  thief,  ''Lord,  remember  me!"  No  man  can 
truly  give  himself  to  the  welfare  of  others  until  he 
has  thus  definitely  settled  his  own  relations  with  God. 

But,  that  done,  he  is  no  longer  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister,  as  debtor  to  every  man.  He  has  passed 
out  of  self-seeking  into  the  vicarious  life,  which  he  is 
henceforth  to  live  in  fellowship  with  Christ.  His  one 
duty  is  "  to  seek  and  to  save."  But  can  a  man  con- 
vert another  man  ?  Aye ;  else  what  is  the  meaning  of 
this,  "  He  that  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of 
his  ways  shall  save  a  soul  from  death  and  shall  hide  a 
multitude  of  sins  ?  "  We  are  able,  by  our  prayers,  to 
enlist  the  power  of  God  in  behalf  of  those  for  whom 
we  desire  the  blessings  of  eternal  life.  Pastors  can 
save  their  parishioners;  parents  can  save  their  chil- 
dren. "  More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer  than  this 
world  dreams  of." 

It  is  incumbent  upon  us,  also,  to  pray  for  Christ. 
As  it  is  written,  "  Prayer  also  shall  be  made  for  Him 
continually"  (Ps.  Ixxii :  15).  This  is  the  meaning  of 
our  daily  petition,  "  Thy  kingdom  come ;  "  that  is.  Let 
men  and  nations  be  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Thy 
saving  grace;  that  the  time  may  be  hastened  when 
the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  among  men,  and  He  will 
dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God 
Himself  shall  be  their  God. 


206       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

It  is  related  that  when  Dr.  Backus,  the  President  of 
Hamilton  College,  was  informed  by  his  physician  that 
he  had  only  half  an  hour  to  live,  he  said,  ''  Then  help 
me  out  of  bed  and  to  my  knees  quickly  that  I  may  pray 
for  the  world."  There  spoke  the  Christian.  Self  was 
forgotten;  the  souls  for  whom  Christ  died  were  re- 
membered ;   and  Christ  Himself  was  all  in  all. 

But  what  assurance  have  we  that  our  intercessory 
prayers  are  answered?  This  brings  us  to  the  original 
question  as  to  the  efficacy  of  prayer;  and  that  ques- 
tion cannot  be  determined  by  scientific  tests.  The  man 
who  insists  upon  a  mathematical  proof  of  God  will  in- 
evitably find  that  his  God  is  reduced  to  an  impalpable 
ghost  of  nothing.  If  he  requires  a  scientific  demon- 
stration of  immortality,  he  is  bound  to  conclude  that 
he  is  no  better  than  the  dog  lying  before  his  feet. 
Science  has  to  do  with  everything  within  the  province 
of  the  senses ;  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  spiritual  truth, 
since  ''  spiritual  things  are  spiritually  discerned."  In 
that  realm  its  logical  ultimatum  is  agnosticism :  the 
bald,  frightful  denial  of  Fichte,  ''  I  cannot  assert  that 
I  know  anything,  not  even  that  I  know  nothing  at 
all." 

But  while  it  is  admitted  that  prayer  is  not  a  mathe- 
matical quod  erat  demonstrandum,  it  must  not  be  con- 
cluded that  it  is  not  therefore  a  substantial  fact.  It 
is  a  spiritual  fact ;  but  none  the  less  a  fact  because  it 
lies  beyond  the  apprehension  of  the  senses.  Prayer  is 
not  a  dream,  not  a  theory,  not  an  emotion ;  it  is  a 
thing,  an  instrument  to  an  end ;  as  real  as  the  bow- 
string with  which  one  draws  the  arrow  to  its  head,  as 
the  hammer  with  which  he  drives  a  nail,  or  the  ax  with 
which  he  fells  a  tree. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  ON  HIS  KNEES  207 

We  place  against  all  scientific  and  philosophic  state- 
ment the  supreme  authority  of  the  Word  of  God.  If 
one  promise,  and  one  only,  had  ever  been  spoken,  that 
would  have  been  enough ;  "Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given 
you."  But  add  to  this  the  hundreds  of  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises  with  which  God  has  been  pleased 
to  buttress  the  strength  of  "  the  weakest  saint  upon 
his  knees."  One  man  in  prayer  shall  put  ten  thousand 
to  flight.  And  what  of  two  men  in  prayer  ?  "  If  two 
of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that 
they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  My  Father 
which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  xviiiriQ).  The  word 
agree  is  sumphoneem;  that  is,  symphonize;  the  two 
ascending  prayers  shall  so  blend  as  to  make  harmony 
before  God.  And  when  a  whole  Church  is  united  in 
prayer,  what  then?  Ask  Peter,  for  whose  deliverance 
from  prison  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  "  prayed  without 
ceasing  unto  God ; "  and  he  will  tell  you  how,  while 
his  friends  were  still  upon  their  knees,  an  angel  came, 
saying,  ''Arise  up  quickly,"  and,  behold,  his  chains 
fell  off! 

And  to  the  divine  word  add  the  results  of  personal 
experience.  Let  all  the  philisophers  in  the  world  tell 
me  that  natural  law  is  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the 
prevalence  of  prayer,  and  I  will  answer,  "  This  poor 
man  cried,  and  the  Lord  heard  and  saved  him  out  of 
all  his  trouble !  "  And  I  am  only  one  of  a  great  multi- 
tude that  no  man  can  number.  Here  is  Abraham 
pleading  for  Sodom :  "If  there  be  fifty  righteous  with- 
in the  city.  Lord,  spare  it."  And  the  Lord  answers, 
"  I  will  spare  it." — "  Peradventure  there  be  forty-five 
in  the  city." — and  again  he  answers,  "  I  will  spare  it." 
— "  Peradventure  there  be  forty." — "  I  will  spare  it." 


208         CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

— "  Peradventure  there  be  thirty." — "  I  will  spare  it." 
— "  Peradventure  there  be  twenty." — "  I  will  spare  it." 
— "  Peradventure  there  be  ten." — *'  I  will  spare  it." — 
And  the  limit  was  reached  only  when  the  faith  of 
Abraham  gave  out. 

Here  is  Moses  pleading  for  the  people  who  had 
sinned  in  the  matter  of  the  golden  calf ;  "  O,  this  peo- 
ple have  sinned  a  great  sin  and  have  made  them  gods 
of  gold ;  yet  now,  if  Thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin — and 
if  not  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  Thy  book !  "  And 
the  Lord  said,  "  Go,  lead  the  people  unto  the  place  of 
which  I  have  spoken  unto  thee." 

And  here  is  Nehemiah,  the  cupbearer  of  Artaxerxes, 
pleading  for  the  deliverance  of  the  Jewish  exiles, 
"  Bring  them,  O  Lord,  unto  the  place  of  which  Thou 
hast  said,  I  have  chosen  to  set  My  name  there."  And 
the  marvelous  answer  is  the  proclamation  of  Cyrus. 
Behold  the  caravans  on  their  way  to  rebuild  the  temple 
and  ruined  walls  of  the  Holy  City. 

On  the  northern  shore  of  Africa  kneels  a  mother, 
watching  with  tearful  eyes  the  vanishing  sails  of  a  ship 
that  carries  her  son  away  to  the  dissipations  of  Rome. 
She  is  pleading  that  he  may  be  converted  to  Christ ;  and 
nothing  seems  less  probable  than  an  answer.  Yet  the 
time  came  when  Monica  stood  in  the  doorway  of  her 
oratory  by  the  sea,  and  her  son  Augustine  knelt  at  her 
feet  avowing  that  through  her  abundant  prayers  he 
had  been  constrained  to  acknowledge  the  claims  of  the 
gracious  Son  of  God. 

In  one  of  the  galleries  of  Spurgeon's  tabernacle  sat 
a  half-paralyzed  woman  who  was  physically  disquali- 
fied for  active  service.  But  every  Sabbath  she  chose 
from  the  great  congregation  a  single  face,   the  face 


THE  CHRISTIAN  ON  HIS  KNEES  209 

perhaps  of  a  nameless  stranger,  and  made  it  her  busi- 
ness during  the  week  to  pray  for  that  one.  The  Great 
Day  alone  can  reveal  the  results  of  her  intercessory 
petitions ;  but  Spurgeon  said,  *'  Of  all  my  parishioners 
there  was  none  who  laboured  more  fervently  than 
she." 

In  my  own  early  ministry,  while  pastor  of  a  mission 
chapel  here  in  New  York,  I  learned  of  a  Christian  boy 
of  fourteen  years,  long  confined  to  his  bed,  who  had 
made  it  his  habit  to  pray  for  his  classmates  in  the  Sun- 
day School.  After  his  death,  a  well-thumbed  paper 
was  found  under  his  pillow  on  which  were 
written  the  names  of  twelve  lads,  all  converted  save 
one,  who  was  also  presently  brought  into  the  Church 
of  God. 

We  must  not  neglect  to  say,  however,  that  whatever 
of  power  there  is  in  intercessory  prayer  is  wholly  of 
grace.  God  reserves  His  sovereign  authority  in  these 
as  in  other  premises.  He  has  a  right  to  refuse ;  a  fact 
to  be  remembered,  since  some  people  have  an  idea, 
apparently,  that  prayer  works  like  an  automatic  ma- 
chine, dropping  in  a  prayer  and  drawing  out  an  an- 
swer. We  are  not  dealing,  however,  with  insensate 
law,  but  with  a  sovereign  God.  He  has,  nevertheless, 
been  pleased  to  put  Himself  within  our  power,  in  a 
measure,  and  has  so  assured  us ;  and  this  assurance  is 
by  the  purchase  of  Christ.  We  approach  the  throne 
of  the  heavenly  grace,  through  His  sacrifice,  as  by  "  a 
new  and  living  way."  We  make  our  supplication  "  in 
Jesus'  name  "  and  "  for  Jesus'  sake."  Our  intercession 
is  reinforced  by  His  intercession.  "  We  know  not  what 
to  pray  for  as  we  ought,"  but  our  prayers  pass  through 
His  hands  as  through  the  hands  of  a  censor,  on  their 


210  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

way  to  God.     In  Longfellow's  ''  Legend  of  Prayer  " 
he  speaks  of  the  Angel  Sandalphon  who 

Stands  listening  breathless 
To  sounds  that  ascend  from  below, 
From  the  spirits  of  earth  that  adore, 
From  the  souls  that  entreat  and  implore 
In  the  fervor  and  passion  of  prayer; 
From  the  hearts  that  are  broken  with  losses 
And  weary  with  dragging  their  crosses, 
Too  heavy  for  mortals  to  bear; 
And  he  gathers  the  prayers  as  he  stands, 
And  they  change  into  flowers  in  his  hands, 
Into  garlands  of  purple  and  red; 
And  beneath  the  great  arch  of  the  portal, 
Through  the  streets  of  the  city  immortal, 
Is  wafted  the  fragrance  they  shed. 

For  Sandalphon  read  Christ;  and  you  have  the  ra- 
tionale of  intercessory  prayer.  All  our  supplications 
go  heavenward  with  the  red  stains  of  Redemption  upon 
them.  All  are  presented  with  the  endorsement  and 
furtherance  of  the  great  Advocate  who  ever  pleads 
for  us. 

But  suppose  a  Christian  lives  this  vicarious  life  and 
prays  *unceasingly  this  intercessory  prayer,  what  be- 
comes of  himself  F  Ah,  this  reveals  the  very  glory  of 
the  Christian  life ;  it  is  forgetfulness  of  self  in  solici- 
tude for  others.  He  who  shuts  himself  up  within  a 
narrow  circle  of  supplication  in  his  own  behalf,  to  wit, 
that  he  may  be  saved  and  sanctified,  is  still  standing  on 
the  mere  threshold  of  his  high-calling.  Character  is 
not  wrought  by  a  dead  lift,  but  is  a  normal  growth. 
Some  one  has  said  that  "  character  is  a  by-product ; " 
by  which  I  suppose  he  means  it  is  not  the  destination 
toward  which  we  go,  but  the  beauty  and  fragrance 


THE   CHRISTIAN    ON    HIS    KNEES  211 

which  we  gather  along  the  way.  Our  real  destination 
is  usefulness ;  that  is,  the  service  of  the  kingdom.  The 
three  steps  of  the  Christian  life,  as  set  forth  by  one  of 
the  old  fathers,  are  these :  "  Out  of  self,  unto  Christ, 
into  glory."  Out  of  self  is  the  beginning  of  all ;  as 
the  Master  said,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let 
him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me." 
It  remains  to  say  that  there  is  one  condition  affixed 
to  the  efficacy  of  prayer  and  only  one,  namely,  that  the 
petitioner  shall  be  able  to  begin  his  prayer  on  this 
wise,  *'  Our  Father."  In  order  to  do  that,  however,  he 
must  be  in  right  relations  with  God.  And  this  is  im- 
possible until  he  has  accepted  the  overtures  of  God's 
mercy  in  Christ.  Then  "  the  effectual  fervent  prayer 
of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much."  There  is  no 
"  righteous  man  "  except  the  man  who  formulates  his 
prayers  in  filial  terms.  Faith,  sincerity,  reverence,  im- 
portunity, humble  acquiescence  are  all  embraced  in 
"  Our  Father."  He  who  can  thus  approach  God,  may 
ask  what  he  will  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  him.  There- 
fore, to  your  knees,  O  Israel !  Pray  on !  Pray  and 
never  faint.  IMinisters,  pray  for  your  people.  Par- 
ents, pray  for  your  sons  and  daughters.  Pray  for  your 
friends  and  companions.  Pray  with  faith,  believing. 
Pray  on !     Pray  on ! 


THE  CHURCH 


Once  the  welcome  light  has  broken. 

Who   shall   say 
What   the   unimagined   glories 

Of  the  day— 
What  the  evil  that  shall  perish 

In  its  ray? 
Aid  the   dawning,  tongue  and  pen; 
Aid  it,  hopes  of  honest  men! 
Aid  it,  paper — aid  it,  type — 
Aid  it,  for  the  hour  is  ripe. 
And  our  earnest  must  not  slacken 

Into  play. 
Men  of  thought,  and  men  of  action, 

Clear  the  way! 

Chakles  Mackay 


XVII 
IS  PROTESTANTISM  A  FAILURE? 

THE  strongest  form  of  affirmation  possible  to  the 
Greeks  was  in  the  word  ne,  the  particle  of  ad- 
juration, which  is  rendered  in  both  the  King 
James  and  Revised  versions  "I  protest"  (I.  Cor. 
xv:3i).  This  would  appear  to  militate  against  the 
opinion  prevalent  in  some  quarters,  that  the  name 
"  Protestant "  is  open  to  objection  on  the  ground  that 
it  suggests  a  denial  of  error  rather  than  a  downright 
and  positive  declaration  of  truth. 

The  word  is  from  pro-testari,  meaning  to  testify  for 
or  in  behalf  of.  In  the  Latin,  as  in  Old  English,  it 
was  applied  not  only  to  the  offering  of  evidence  but  to 
the  proving  of  a  case.  Then  as  now  hearsay  evidence 
was  ruled  out ;  the  witness,  as  a  "  protestant,"  was 
required  to  testify  concerning  that  which  he  had 
'*  seen  with  his  eyes  and  handled  with  his  hands " 
(I  John  i:i-3). 

In  the  last  interview  of  Jesus  with  His  disciples  He 
said,  "  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me,  both  in  Jeru- 
salem and  in  all  Judea  and  in  Samaria  and  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth"  (Acts  i:8).  As  wit- 
nesses, martyres,  or  "  Protestants,"  our  commission  is 
to  forthtell  in  the  most  positive  manner,  the  truth  of 
the  Gospel.  The  Gospel  is  a  case  in  Court,  we  are  the 
witnesses  and  the  world  is  the  Jury  that  sits  in  judg- 
ment on  the  evidence  which  we  offer  to  sustain  it. 

215 


216  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

The  name  "  Protestant "  was  first  applied  to  Luther 
and  his  associates  in  the  Council  of  Spires,  A.  D.  1529, 
when  they  presented  a  formal  '*  Expostulation  "  against 
certain  errors ;  as  others,  for  a  like  reason,  are  called 
"  Dissenters  "  and  ''  Non-conformists  "  in  these  days. 
But  the  negative  form  of  the  Expostulation  of  Spires 
was  merely  incidental  to  the  reaffirmation  with  a  tre- 
mendous emphasis,  of  certain  vital  and  positive  facts. 

It  was  necessary  that  Protestantism,  at  the  outset, 
should  assume  a  negative  as  well  as  a  positive  form. 
All  truth  is  a  remonstrance  against  error.  Every  af- 
firmation is  bifrontal.  You  cannot  say  "'  This  is  a  fair 
day "  without  denying,  by  implication,  that  it  rains. 
The  sun  is  the  great  Protestant  in  the  realm  of  nature ; 
It  confutes  the  night,  miasm  and  disease,  owls  and 
jackals,  ghosts  and  spectres.  But  even  while  confuting 
it  affirms ;  the  birds  begin  to  sing,  the  heavens  are 
illumined  with  red  and  azure  glory,  the  grass  blades 
in  the  meadow  are  hung  with  diamonds,  the  wheels  of 
commerce  revolve,  and  the  roar  of  industry  is  heard 
in  the  great  centres  of  life.  Thus  the  denials  of  Pro- 
testantism, however  necessary,  are  but  incidental  to  its 
great  positive  propositions.  Its  denials  cover  all  false 
innovations ;  its  affirmations  embrace  the  fundamentals 
of  the  Gospel. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  Protestantism,  except 
in  name,  came  in  with  the  Reformation.  The  Refor- 
mation was  merely  the  revival  of  a  dormant  principle. 
In  the  hand  of  one  of  Belzoni's  mummies,  taken  from  a 
crypt  by  the  river  side  in  Egypt  a  hundred  years  ago, 
was  found  a  bulb.  It  had  been  within  the  clasp  of 
that  dead  man  for  three  thousand  years;  but  being 
planted,  it  is  said  to  have  put  forth  newness  of  life. 


IS   PROTESTANTISM    A  FAILURE?  217 

All  that  the  reformers  did  was  to  unclasp  the  stiff 
fingers  of  a  Church  dead  in  formalism  and  take  there- 
from a  form  of  religion,  which,  though  it  shared  in  the 
darkness  of  death,  had  never  died ;  and  they  planted  it, 
and  like  the  mustard  seed  of  the  parable  it  grew  and 
became  a  tree,  so  that  the  fowls  of  the  air  lodge  in  the 
branches  of  it. 

So  then  the  Reformation  was  not  a  revolution,  since 
it  introduced  nothing  new.  It  was  distinctly  a  renais- 
sance or  restoration,  a  getting  back  to  original  and 
essential  things.  The  Church  had  forgotten  the  faith 
of  the  fathers ;  had  overlaid  Scripture  with  old  wives' 
fables;  had  pushed  Christ  aside  to  make  way  for  the 
Pope  and  the  hierarchy;  had  substituted  the  mint, 
anise  and  cummin  of  ceremonialism  for  the  weightier 
matters  of  truth  and  righteousness.  The  lights  of  the 
Sanctuary  were  gone  out  and  there  was  a  famine  of  the 
word.  At  length  the  abomination  of  desolation  was 
reached  when  King  Henry  IV,  under  pain  of  excom- 
munication, crossed  the  Alps  in  midwinter  and,  pre- 
sented himself  in  sackcloth  at  Canossa ;  where,  after 
waiting  three  days  at  the  Pope's  threshold,  he  was  ab- 
solved and  permitted  to  kiss  the  foot  of  His  Holiness. 
The  "  dark  ages  "  were  then  at  their  darkest ;  it  was 
time  for  a  reformation,  for  the  breaking  of  a  better  day. 

In  the  museum  of  Prague  there  is  a  picture,  in  an 
old  missal,  representing  a  fagot-fire  at  which  one  man 
is  kindling  the  spark,  another  blowing  the  flame  and 
still  another  waving  a  blazing  torch.  These  are  the 
three  original  Protestants,  who  were  instrumental  un- 
der God  in  bringing  in  the  Reformation,  each  of  whom 
stood  for  one  of  its  great  positive  principles. 

I.  The  man  kindling  the  spark  was  Wiclif,  whose 


218         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

watchword  was  "  Back  to  the  Bible !  "  The  search- 
warrant  which  Christ  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
when  He  said  ''  Search  the  Scriptures "  had  been 
snatched  away  and  appropriated  by  the  Pope  and  hier- 
archy. So  far  as  the  people  were  concerned  the  Bible 
was  a  closed  book;  it  was  kept  in  the  cloisters  or 
chained  to  the  high-altars  of  the  cathedrals ;  and  when 
read  to  the  multitudes  it  was  read  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  Wiclif  said,  "  I  will  translate  the  Scriptures 
into  the  vernacular;  so  that  every  plowboy  may  read 
them  as  he  toils  among  the  furrows."  His  Bible  was 
published  in  1384;  and  was  immediately  placed  in  the 
Index  Expurgatoriiis.  Wiclif  himself  was  persecuted 
until  his  death,  and  by  order  of  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance his  bones  were  exhumed  and  burned ;  the  ashes 
were  cast  upon  the  river  and  the  river  carried  them  to 
the  sea.  But  the  key-note  of  Protestantism  had  been 
struck  :   "A  true  Bible  and  an  open  one  !  " 

(i)  As  Protestants  we  believe  m  the  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures  as  the  veritable  Word  of  God.  It  is  not 
for  us  closely  to  define  inspiration  or  declare  the  method 
of  it.  The  Mohammedans  can  tell  you  precisely  how 
the  Koran  was  delivered  to  them.  It  had  been  recorded 
from  all  eternity  on  the  tables  beside  the  throne  of  God. 
In  fulness  of  time  it  was  transcribed  by  the  angel  Ga- 
briel who  caused  it  to  be  written  on  palm  leaves,  the 
shoulder  blades  of  camels  and  the  breasts  of  men,  and 
so  placed  before  Mohammed's  eyes  and  made  current 
among  men.  We  cannot  speak  so  clearly  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  our  Scriptures  came  from  God.  It 
is  quite  enough  for  us  to  know  that  holy  men  wrote 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  are  sat- 
isfied with  the  assurance  that  all  Scripture  given  by; 


IS  PROTESTANTISM   A   FAILURE?  219 

inspiration   is   profitable   for  us.     The  word  is,   The- 
opneustos;     that  is,  God-breathed.     God  breathed  it. 

(2)  The  Scriptures  thus  delivered  stand  alone  as 
our  infallible  rule  of  life.  They  are  separated  by  their 
absolute  truth  and  trustworthiness  from  all  other  books. 
We  sometimes  speak  of  the  inspiration  of  Homer  and 
Dante,  of  Virgil  and  Shakespeare;  it  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say,  however,  that  their  inspiration  is  of  a  totally 
different  sort  and  implies  no  gift  of  infallibility.  The 
holy  men  who  were  chosen  to  write  Scripture  were  en- 
dued with  power  to  declare  without  error  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  The  touchstone  of  Scripture  is  truth- 
fulness. There  is  a  vast  accumulation  of  apocryphal 
writings,  traditions  and  pseudo-gospels  which  are  not 
without  historical  value,  but  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
same  breath  with  the  inspired  Word.  The  man  who 
denies  the  truthfulness  of  Scripture  sets  himself  against 
the  consensus  of  the  Protestant  Churches  and  is,  so 
far  forth,  a  rationalist.  The  Protestant  Church  asserts 
its  faith  in  Scripture  as  a  true  declaration  of  the  di- 
vine will. 

(3)  The  Scriptures  are  free  and  open  to  every  man. 
In  pursuance  of  this  proposition  the  Protestant  Church 
has  multiplied  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  until 
they  are  now  circulated  in  more  than  three  hundred 
various  tongues  and  scattered  over  the  world  like  leaves 
of  the  tree  of  life.  We  hold  that  all  power  is  in  this 
Word ;  the  power  of  conversion,  as  it  is  written,  "  The 
Word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful  and  sharper  than 
any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  the  soul  and  spirit ;  "  the  power  of  sanctifi- 
cation,  as  implied  in  our  IMaster's  pontifical  prayer, 
"  Sanctify  them  by  Thy  truth,  Thy  Word  is  truth ; " 


220  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

the  power  of  the  world's  ultimate  deliverance,  as  it  is 
written,  ''  Go  ye,  evangelize,"  and  again,  ''  Preach  the 
Word,"  and  again,  "As  the  rain  cometh  down  and  the 
snow  from  heaven  and  returneth  not  thither,  but  water- 
eth  the  earth,  and  maketh  it  to  bring  forth  and  bud, 
that  it  may  give  seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the 
eater:  so  shall  My  Word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  o£ 
my  mouth ;  it  shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  prosper  in 
the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

The  last  three  hundred  years  are  the  glory  of  all 
history.  At  the  beginning  of  the  1 6th  century  the 
world  was  in  darkness.  The  Scriptures  were  laid 
away  in  monasteries,  where  the  monks  were  engaged 
in  illuminating  missals,"  chanting  prayers  and  swinging 
censers.  The  people  without,  the  unshod  people  under 
the  shadow  of  the  monasteries,  were  in  mid-night  dark- 
ness. The  truth  in  the  open  Scriptures  flew  abroad 
like  Milton's  angel  with  the  flaming  torch.  Schools, 
hospitals  and  institutions  of  mercy  were  multiplied 
along  the  way.  The  people  became  a  power.  The 
world  began  to  recognize  the  dignity  of  man.  Light 
came  not  in  a  sun-burst,  but,  as  it  pierced  the  primeval 
shadows  of  chaos,  glimmering  and  trembling,  brighter 
and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day ;  so  the  world  moves 
on,  under  the  illuminating  power  of  the  Scriptures, 
toward  the  restitution  of  all  things. 

II.  The  second  man  at  the  bonfire  was  John  Huss 
whose  watchword  w^as,  "  Back  to  Christ !  "  He  in- 
sisted that  all  priests  and  mediators  must  stand  out 
of  the  way  that  the  sinner  might,  through  Christ  alone, 
have  access  to  God.  This  involved  an  incidental  de- 
nial of  the  value  of  images,  confessionals  and  ecclesi- 


IS   PROTESTANTISM   A   FAILURE?  221 

astical  absolution.  Huss  was  brought  to  the  stake 
A.  D.  141 5,  wearing  a  yellow  cap  painted  with  red 
devils;  his  ashes  were  sprinkled  on  the  river  and 
carried  to  the  sea. 

(i)  As  Protestants  we  hold  that  Christ  is  the  foun- 
dation of  His  Church.  When  He  said  to  Peter,  who 
had  just  made  the  good  confession,  "  Thou  art  Petros^ 
and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  ^ly  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,"  He  meant  not  that 
Peter  was  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  but 
rather  the  great  truth  to  which  Peter  had  just  given 
utterance :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  To  say  that  Peter  is  the  Rock  is  bad  philology, 
bad  philosophy,  bad  history,  bad  religion  and  bad  com- 
mon sense.  The  Apostle  was  called  Petros,  a  stone, 
because,  on  account  of  his  brave  statement  of  the  great 
fundamental  truth,  he  was  as  a  stone  hewn  out  of  the 
rock;  just  as  Scipio  was  called  Africanus,  because  he 
had  traversed  Africa;  and  just  as  Balboa  was  called 
Pacificus,  because  from  the  crags  of  Panama  he  first 
had  seen  the  great  western  sea.  This  view  is  con- 
sistent with  Scripture ;  for  other  foundation  can  no 
man  lay  than  hath  been  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  also  consistent  with  history;  for  in  point  of  fact 
Christ,  and  not  Peter,  has  been  and  is  the  foundation 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  the 
story  of  the  Church  would  in  all  probability  have  been 
written  in  these  words :  "  The  rain  descended  and  the 
floods  came  and  the  winds  blew  and  beat  upon  it,  and 
it  fell."  As  it  is,  however,  the  history  stands  thus : 
"  The  rain  descended  and  the  floods  came  and  the 
winds  blew  and  beat  upon  it,  and  it  fell  not  because  it 
was  founded  upon  a  rock  "     Thus  the  promise  is  ful- 


222         CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

filled,  "  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it." 

(2)  We  believe  that  Christ  stands  alone  in  His  rela- 
tion to  the  Church.  Indeed  He  is  alone  everywhere ; 
in  His  Incarnation,  in  His  unique  life  and  character,  in 
His  passion,  in  His  triumph  over  the  grave,  and  in  His 
intercession  at  the  throne  of  the  heavenly  grace.  That 
was  a  significant  event  which  occurred  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration  where  five  of  the  most  distinguished 
believers  who  ever  lived  were  met  in  conference  with 
Christ  as  to  the  decease  which  He  was  presently  to 
accomplish  for  sinful  men.  The  two  sons  of  thunder 
w^ere  there  and  Peter  himself;  Moses  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Law,  and  Elijah,  who  stood  for  the  historic 
line  of  Prophets.  And  when  the  luminous  cloud  had 
enclosed  them  and  Jesus  had  appeared  to  them  in  gar- 
ments white  and  glistening,  it  was  Peter  who  said, 
*'  Lord,  let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles ;  one  for 
Thee  and  one  for  Moses  and  one  for  Elias. — But  he 
wist  not  what  he  said."  The  cloud  vanished;  Moses 
and  Elijah  went  their  way;  "and  they  saw  no  man, 
but  Jesus  only."  Jesus  only !  He  is  first,  last,  midst, 
and  all  in  all. 

The  saints  in  glory  are  at  an  infinite  remove  from 
Him.  Mary,  the  virgin  mother,  was  blessed  among 
women,  but  she  was  a  mere  woman,  after  all.  It  was 
a  grave  rebuke  that  was  administered  to  John  in  Pat- 
mos  when  he  fell  at  the  feet  of  the  angel  to  worship 
him.  If  ever  a  being,  other  than  God  Himself,  was 
worthy  of  adoration,  it  was  surely  that  strong  angel 
who,  with  glowing  face,  had  dr.iwn  the  veil  to  reveal 
to  the  exiled  evangelist  his  visions  of  the  endless  life. 
But   when    John    would    have   accorded   to   him    the 


IS   PROlTESTANTISM    A  FAILURE?  223 

honour,  he  recoiled  with  horror  from  it  saying,  "  See 
thou  do  it  not  for  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and  of  thy 
brethren  the  prophets;  worship  God."  This  is  why 
we  Protestants  have  no  saints  in  our  calendar.  This 
is  why  we  have  no  Ave  Marias  in  our  liturgy.  We 
believe  that  the  word  is  imperative  and  final :  "  Wor- 
ship God !  " 

(3)  Christ  is  accessible  to  all.  We  deny  the  need 
of  any  intermediaries  between  the  soul  and  Him.  His 
word  is,  "  Come  unto  me."  The  rending  of  the  veil 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  in  the  very  hour  when 
Jesus  dying  cried  upon  the  cross,  "  It  is  finished ! " 
meant  that  a  new  and  living  way  was  now  opened  into 
the  holiest  of  all.  Let  priests  and  pontiffs  and  eccle- 
siastical principalities  and  powers  of  every  sort  now 
stand  aside !  Clear  the  way !  The  function  of  the 
Church  and  her  ministers  is  not  to  guard  the  mercy- 
seat  against  the  approach  of  the  sinner,  but  simply  to 
announce  that  Jesus  waits  to  hear  and  comfort  and 
strengthen  and  pardon  and  save  him.  Mediators? 
No  !  Intercessors  ?  No  !  Confessors  ?  O,  no !  This 
is  child's  play,  but  with  serious  consequences.  Out 
upon  all  such  interference  with  the  sovereignty  of 
Christ  in  holy  things !  In  the  new  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  every  man  is  made  a  king  and  priest  unto 
God. 

III.  The  third  man  at  the  bonfire  was  Martin  Luther, 
who  nailed  the  Ninety-five  Theses  of  Protestantism  to 
the  Chapel  door  at  Wittenberg  A.  D.  1517.  His  watch- 
word was,  "  Back  to  the  Cross !  "  His  great  doctrine 
was  Justification  by  Faith,  which  he  called  articuhim 
ecclesice  stantis  ant  cadentis,  "  the  article  of  a  standing 
or  falling  Church."     This  is  the  fundamental  truth  of 


224         CHRIST   AND    PROGRESS 

Christianity ;  it  is  the  basis  of  personal  character ;  and 
it  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  true  preaching,  since 
no  man  can  be  a  true  minister  of  Christ  who  does  not 
point  an  index  finger  to  the  Cross  saying,  ''  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  !  " 

As  a  monk,  Luther  had  happened  on  a  volume  of 
the  Scriptures.  He  knew  it  only  as  a  forbidden  book. 
He  read  it  furtively  until  he  came  to  the  place  where  it 
is  written,  "  There  is  none  other  name  under  heaven, 
given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  He 
grew  lean  and  haggard.  The  friars  saluted  him,  "  Good 
appetite,  Brother  Martin !  "  But  the  refectory  had  no 
charms  for  him.  He  returned  again  to  his  book.  He 
read,  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  living  be 
justified."  The  very  terror  of  his  situation  enchained 
him.  And  now  he  came  upon  the  word  that  is  writ- 
ten :  "  What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak 
through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  His  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in 
the  flesh."     The  light  began  to  break. 

He  betook  himself  to  Rome.  Great  were  his  antici- 
pations ;  a  sore  disappointment  awaited  him.  He  had 
hoped  to  see  a  multitude  serving  God  in  vows  of  pov- 
erty and  consecration ;  he  found  palatial  halls,  where 
priests  with  round  persons  and  rubicund  faces  gath- 
ered about  the  stores  of  famous  wine-cellars.  He 
looked  for  hair-cloth;  and,  lo,  there  were  purple  and 
fine  linen,  wealth,  splendour,  luxury.  Here  were 
Churches,  marvels  of  architecture,  adorned  by  the  art 
of  Raphael  and  Titian.  He  looked  for  voluntary  pov- 
erty and  simple  piety;  the  air  was  full  of  ambition 
and  political  intrigue.  The  holy  brothers  smiled  at  him 
as  a  simple  rustic.     As  he  was  saying  mass,  a  neigh* 


IS   PROTESTANTISM   A   FAILURE?  225 

hour  elbowed  him :  "  We  could  say  it  seven  times, 
brother,  while  thou  art  saying  it  once."  He  deter- 
mined on  penance,  by  climbing  Sancta  Scala,  the  Sacred 
Stairway,  on  his  knees.  Half  way  up  he  seemed  to 
hear  a  voice  saying,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith ! " 
and  the  day  broke.  He  stood  erect,  a  believer  in  Christ 
as  his  only  Saviour  from  sin.  Out  of  this  ex- 
perience was  born  the  courage  with  which  he 
ever  defended  his  conviction ;  which  fortified  him 
on  the  historic  occasion  when,  in  the  presence  of 
secular  and  ecclesiastical  potentates,  at  peril  of  his 
life,  he  exclaimed,  "  Here  I  stand :  I  cannot  other- 
wise ;  God  help  me !  " 

The  three  fundamental  truths  of  Protestantism,  as 
indicated,  are  followed  by  two  corollaries,  to  wit.  Free- 
dom and  Progress. 

As  Protestants  we  stand  for  a  free  conscience.  In 
the  forty  years  prior  to  the  Reformation  no  less  than 
sixteen  hundred  "  heretics  "  were  burned  at  the  stake. 
They  died  for  the  crime  of  doing  their  own  thinking. 
A  man  has  a  right,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  to  be  a 
heretic,  an  unbeliever  or  an  infidel,  since  each  must 
answer  for  himself  before  God.  Alone  was  I  born 
into  the  world,  alone  must  I  face  the  responsibilities 
and  vicissitudes  of  life,  alone  must  I  pass  through  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow,  and  alone  must  I  stand  before 
the  Judge  of  all. 

The  men  who  have  taken  this  position  have  been  the 
pioneers  of  progress  along  the  ages.  Lay  down  the 
map  of  Christendom  and  see  how  progress  has  been 
limited  by  the  boundaries  of  Protestantism.  Freedom 
and  progress  go  hand  in  hand.  The  motto  of  the 
Papal  Church  is  Semper  idem,  "Always  the  same." 


226       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

The  temperature  of  Saint  Peter's  at  Rome  is  said  to 
be  invariable.  But  Protestantism  is  nunqnam  idem; 
that  is,  it  moves  with  the  moving  v^orld.  There  are 
only  two  important  facts  that  are  ever  the  same.  Jesus 
is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever;  yet  the 
world  is  constantly  catching  new  glimpses  of  the  beauty 
of  his  face.  The  Scriptures,  also,  abide  unaltered,  be- 
cause God  sealed  the  Book  with  seven  seals  and  marked 
it,  "Finis."  There  is  no  appendix,  no  addendum.  The 
revelation  was  in  the  beginning  adjusted  to  the  prog- 
ress of  the  succeeding  ages.  Nevertheless,  as  John 
Robinson  said,  there  are  "  new  lights  ever  bursting 
forth  from  the  Word."  But  between  these  two  abid- 
ing facts,  Christ  and  the  Bible,  the  Church  moves  on- 
ward in  new  enterprises  to  ever  greater  conquests  of 
faith. 

This  then  is  Protestantism  as  outlined  by  Divine 
Providence  in  the  logic  of  events.  Its  only  pontiff  is 
Christ,  whose  name  is  above  every  other  which  is 
named  in  heaven  or  on  earth.  Its  only  hierarchy  is 
the  procession  of  torch  bearers,  who  go  about  to  illu- 
minate the  dark  places  of  cruelty  and  the  habitations 
of  death,  and  of  reapers  who  come  from  harvest  fields 
bringing  their  sheaves  with  them.  Its  only  Book  is 
that  which  was  written  by  holy  men  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  its  only  creed  is  that 
which  is  framed  from  the  Scriptures  by  men  sitting 
at  the  feet  of  Christ.  Its  grandest  cathedrals  are  the 
lives  of  righteous  men  who  realize  their  kingly  birth 
and  destiny  and  wiio  ''  know  their  rights  and  knowing 
dare  maintain."  Its  most  fervent  litany  is  this,  "  From 
all  tyranny  of  mind  and  conscience  and  heart,  good 
Lord  deliver  us."     Its  grandest  music  is  the  breaking 


IS   PROTESTANTISM    A   FAILURE?  227 

of  chains;  and  its  magnificent  gloria  is — Ave  Maria, 
Holy  Mary,  mother  of  God,  pray  for  us?  No!  No! 
But  this ! 

All   hail   the   power   of   Jesus'   name!  , 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall, 
Bring  forth  the  royal   diadem. 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  results  of  Protestantism 
as  seen  in  the  affairs  of  men  and  nations.  There  are 
those  who  say  that  its  tendency  is  to  make  "  freethink- 
ers." This  may  be  admitted,  in  so  far  as  all  truth  has 
a  negative  as  well  as  a  positive  pole.  In  every  great 
movement  there  is  danger  that  the  pendulum,  swinging 
away  from  error,  may  swing  too  far  the  other  way. 
The  revolt  against  Papal  authority  has  not  infrequently 
led  to  a  denial  of  all  authority  whatsoever,  save  that  of 
"  the  inner  consciousness  "  or  infallible  ego.  Liberty 
lies  close  to  the  borders  of  license.  The  man  who 
thinks  himself  free  must  pause  to  consider  that  the 
only  true  freedom  is  "  perfect  obedience  to  perfect 
law."  And  the  only  true  progress  is  that  which  is 
pursued  along  the  paths  of  Scripture,  whose  ultimate 
and  juridical  authority  must  be  recognized  by  every 
disciple  of  Christ.  It  is  not  strange  that  men  stumble 
at  the  great  doctrines  of  Protestantism,  when  we  con- 
sider that  Christ  Himself  was  "  set  for  the  rise  and 
fall  of  many,"  that  His  Gospel  is  "  a  savour  of  life 
unto  life  or  of  death  unto  death  "  and  His  Cross  "  fool- 
ishness "  to  some  while  to  others  it  is  "  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  God." 

But  it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  Protestantism  has 
been  vitally  associated  with  all  the  forward  movements 


228         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

of  the  last  three  centuries.  At  a  Council  in  Rome, 
A.  D.  1 5 14,  the  supposed  extermination  of  the  Lollards 
and  Waldenses  was  celebrated  in  a  proclamation  begin- 
ning, Nemo  reclamat,  nullus  obsistit! — "  The  last  of 
the  Protestants  is  dead ! "  Since  that  time  the  world 
has  changed  hands.  The  three  nations  standing  in  the 
forefront  of  civilization  and  progress  are  England,  Ger- 
many and  America;  all  Protestant.  If  you  want  to 
find  Romanism,  you  must  go  to  Spain,  Austro-Hun- 
gary  and  the  South  American  Republics.  A  religion 
should  be  judged  like  an  individual;  it  is  its  fruits 
that  tell. 

Is  Protestantism  destined  to  abide?  That  remains 
to  be  seen.  It  must  die  or  live  under  the  law  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  In  the  great  square  at  Witten- 
berg there  stands  a  monument  to  the  Reformation,  on 
the  base  of  which  is  this  inscription,  ''Ist's  Gottes  Werk, 
so  wird's  bestehen:  ist's  Menschen  Werk,  mird's  un- 
tergehen."  If  the  great  principles  which  constitute 
the  very  life  of  Protestantism — namely,  the  Supremacy 
of  Christ,  the  Ultimate  Authority  of  Scripture,  and 
Justification  by  Faith — are  abandoned,  there  will  be  no 
good  reason  for  its  further  continuance ;  but  if  it 
stands  for  these  propositions  and  faithfully  applies 
them  to  the  mighty  work  of  universal  evangelization, 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 


XVIII 
ARE  REVIVALS  OUT  OF  DATE? 

I  HEARD  a  minister  remark  lately — a  young 
minister  who  is  putting  an  unusual  strain  upon 
his  energies  in  an  earnest  endeavour  to  keep 
up  with  the  Zeitgeist — that  revivals  are  out  of  date. 
His  exact  words  were :  "  I  doubt  if  we  shall  ever 
have  an  old-fashioned  revival  again.  If  we  have 
any  it  will  be  an  ethical  revival,  and  the  ministers 
who  are  preaching  ethical  sermons  will  be  responsi- 
ble for  it."  It  is  not  easy  to  define  ethical  preach- 
ing; but  the  observation  referred  to  calls  up  an  in- 
cident in  the  experience  of  Ralph  Wells  of  Sunday- 
school  fame.  He  was  going  about  among  the  teach- 
ers of  his  school  on  a  tour  of  inspection  when,  paus- 
ing in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  young  lady,  whose 
class  of  boys  were  listening  with  all  their  might,  he 
heard  her  say :  "  Now,  boys,  about  these  Command- 
ments. You  know  if  you  keep  them  you'll  go  to 
heaven ;  and  that  will  be  perfectly  splendid.  But 
if  you  break  them ;  if  you  lie  and  steal  and  disobey 
your  parents  and  so  on,  you'll  go  to  hell ;  and,  boys, 
that  would  be  simply  ridiculous."  I  would  not  in- 
timate that  the  ethical  preaching  of  our  time  is  of 
this  sort,  nor  would  I  deprecate  the  importance  of 
ethics  as  an  essential  part  of  the  preacher's  work ; 
but  I  venture  to  suggest  that  the  preaching  of  ethics 
without  the  vital  prepostulate  of  the  atonement  falls 

229 


230         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

immeasurably  short  of  our  business,  and  is  infinitely 
unlikely  to  bring  in  a  revival  or  accomplish  the  sal- 
vation of  men. 

If  we  want  a  definition  of  a  revival  we  shall  find 
it  at  Bethabara.  A  voice  in  the  nig^ht ;  the  voice  of 
one  crying  in  the  wilderness :  "  Repent  ye !  For, 
behold,  there  cometh  One  after  me  whose  shoes' 
latchet  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose.  He  cometh  as 
a  woodman;  and  His  ax  shall  be  laid  at  the  root  of 
the  trees.  He  cometh  as  an  husbandman,  fan  in 
hand,  to  purge  His  floor.  Wheat  to  the  garner,  chaff 
to  the  fire !  "  Strange  preaching  this  for  a  decadent 
age;  and  little  wonder  that  the  people  came  in  mul- 
titudes to  hear  it.  The  preacher  was  an  anchorite ;  a 
weird,  cadaverous  man,  clad  in  hair-cloth  and  girt 
about  the  loins  with  a  leathern  girdle.  But  power 
was  upon  him;  and  mightily  were  his  hearers  moved 
by  the  words  that  fell  burning  from  his  lips.  The 
people  were  gathering  from  near  and  far.  By  the 
well-trodden  but  dangerous  road  from  Jerusalem 
known  as  "  The  Bloody  Way,"  by  the  caravan  route 
through  Samaria,  by  precipitous  paths  threading 
the  cliffs  beyond  the  river,  they  came  thronging  to 
the  ford  of  Jordan  to  hear  the  prophet  of  the  wilder- 
ness. 

It  was  four  hundred  years  since  the  voice  of  a 
prophet  had  been  heard  in  Israel.  "  Behold,  saith 
the  Lord,  I  will  send  My  messenger  and  he  shall 
prepare  the  way  before  Me.  But  who  may  abide  the 
day  of  his  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  he  ap- 
peareth?  For  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  full- 
er's soap.  But  unto  you  that  fear  My  name  shall 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arise  with  healing  in  His 


ARE   REVIVALS  OUT   OF   DATE?  231 

wings ! "  Thus  spoke  Malachi ;  and  then  the  Hghts 
of  the  sanctuary  went  out.  There  was  no  more  open 
vision.  Night !  a  dark,  unbroken,  Egyptian  night  of 
four  centuries !  Doubt,  unbehef,  abandonment  of  the 
altar,  ecHpse  of  hope ! 

The  great  movement  under  John  was  a  true  re- 
vival; a  prophetic  type  of  all  subsequent  outpourings 
of  the  heavenly  grace.  For  though  it  occurred  in 
the  lingering  twilight  of  the  Old  Economy,  and 
though  its  evangelist  was  in  point  of  privilege  less 
than  the  least  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  yet  that  dis- 
course of  his,  "  Repent  and  believe  in  the  Coming 
One ! "  was  in  no  wise  different  from  the  preaching 
which  ever  moves  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  sin- 
ful men. 

/"  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  earthly  ministry  of 
Christ  was  marked  by  no  great  ingathering.  His 
was  the  red  seed-sowing:  the  harvest  was  for  those 
who  should  come  after  Him.  ''  The  works  that  I 
do,"  said  He  to  His  disciples,  "  shall  ye  do  also ;  and 
greater  works  than  these  shall  ye  do,  because  I  go 
unto  my  Father."  In  pursuance  of  those  words  came 
Pentecost,  when  the  Spirit  descended  with  a  sound 
as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind ;  and  the  multitude, 
pricked  to  the  heart,  cried  out  for  the  pardon  of  their 
sins.  Then  Peter  arose,  and  his  words  were  an  echo 
of  Bethabara :  "  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one 
of  you  in  the  name  of  Christ  for  the  remission  of 
your  sins."  Three  thousand  souls  were  gathered 
into  the  Church  that  day.  Then  the  disciples  went 
everywhere  preaching  Christ,  in  Iconium,  Antioch, 
Csesarea,  Samaria,  Ephesus ;  and  souls  were  converted, 
like  willows  springing  up  by  the  watercourses. 


232        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

The  story  of  the  early  Church  is  like  the  map  of 
an  undulating  country :  seasons  of  spiritual  apathy 
followed  by  visitations  of  power.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  occurred  the  great  revival  known  as  the 
Reformation,  in  which  the  voice  of  Luther  rose 
above  all  others,  crying,  **  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith ! "  In  the  seventeenth  century  the  fires  of 
devotion  were  kept  alive  by  such  choice  spirits 
as  Milton  and  the  Pietists,  and  fanned  into  a 
mighty  flame  by  Owen  and  Baxter  and  John  Bunyan. 
There  were  giants  in  those  days !  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  came  the  Wesleys  with  their  field- 
preaching,  the  Tennents,  Jonathan  Edwards,  and 
Whitefield  making  his  frequent  journeys  across  the 
sea  to  preach  in  these  colonies,  where  he  led  fifty 
thousand  souls  to  Christ.  The  opening  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  marked  by  the  infidelity  of  Paine, 
Voltaire,  Rousseau  and  their  kind  :  so  that  righteous 
hearts  were  failing  them  for  fear.  But  when  the 
enemy  came  in  like  a  flood,  the  Lord  lifted  up  His 
standard.  Rowland  Hill,  Lyman  Beecher,  Nettleton 
— a  roll-call  of  mighties,  with  Moody  to  crown  it, 
arose  to  bear  aloft  the  banner  of  the  cross.  And, 
despite  all  forebodings,  the  numerical  increase  of 
the  Church  during  this  period  was  greater  than  in 
all  the  eighteen  centuries  before  it. 

And  now  what  of  the  twentieth  century?  Are 
the  refreshings  of  the  future  to  be  like  those  of  the 
past,  yet  more  abundant?  Or  is  there  somewhat  in 
the  intimations  heard  in  certain  quarters  that  "  Re- 
vivals are  out  of  date?"  It  would  appear  that  the 
wish  is  father  of  the  thought.  If  there  must  be  a 
"  new  theology,"  there  should  obviously  be  a  new  way 


ARE   REVIVALS   OUT   OF   DATE?   233 

/of  propagating  it.    If  God  is  law,  and  Christ  a  mere 

'  man ;  if  there  is  no  virtue  in  the  atoning  blood,  if 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  mere  influence,  and  if  reason 
is  to  usurp  the  functions  of  faith,  then  farewell  the 
old  evangelism !  But  if  the  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity  are  to  abide,  we  may  still  look  for  sea- 
sons of  refreshing  and  the  flocking  of  souls  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  as  doves  to  their  windows. 

Are  revivals  out  of  date?  Not  while  there  is 
trouble  in  the  world.  And  the  world  is  full  of  it ; 
pain,  weeping,  disappointment,  loneliness,  and 
breaking  hearts;  envy,  jealousy,  lurking  treachery 
and  despair,  death  and  bereavement.  If  the  roofs 
were  lifted,  what  should  our  eyes  behold !  Men  and 
women  tossing  on  beds  of  languishing,  plotting  deeds 
of  shame  and  violence,  peering  through  prison  bars, 
meditating  suicide,  *'  Mad  from  life's  history,  glad  to 
death's  mystery,  swift  to  be  hurled,  anywhere,  any- 
where out  of  the  world !  " 

All  this  proceeds  from  sin.  The  Christian  Scien- 
tist who  pronounces  disease  an  "  opinion  of  mortal 
mind  "  is  regarded  as  a  weak  sister ;  and  the  man 
— minister  or  otherwise — who  minimizes  sin  is  in 
the  same  category.  The  world  knows  better  because 
its  nerves  and  sinews  are  tingling  with  the  pain  of 
it.  The  papers  of  yesterday  tell  of  a  little  child  that 
swallowed  a  penny  and,  after  hours  of  suffering, 
choked  to  death.  The  penny  was  visible  under  the 
X-ray,  but  no  skill  of  surgery  could  remove  it.  No 
less  real  is  the  difficulty  in  the  present  case.  Sin  is 
a  visible,  tangible,  ubiquitous  and  (without  Christ) 

/  irremediable  fact. 

""     Then  just  there  lies  the  pertinency  of  the  Bap- 


234  CHRIST   AND    rUOGKESS 

tist's  cry,  ''Repent  3e!"  Not  llial  re])entanee  can 
save.  The  sorrow  tliat  we  call  sin  is  beyond  tlic 
reach  of  that  other  sorrow  vvliich  we  call  repentance. 
But  repentance  is  prerequisite  to  a  cure,  it  is  tlifh- 
cult  to  see  how  there  can  l)e  any  real  tnrninj:^  to 
Christ  without  an  adequate  sense  of  the  sinfulness 
of  sin  and  an  overwhelmin.2^  desire  to  he  rid  of  it. 
When  this  pain  of  conxielion  hcconies  epidemic, 
there  is  a  cry  "  Men  and  hrcMhrcn,  what  shall  we 
do?"  Then  Pentecost.  JUit  the  needle  must  enter 
before  the  thread.  The  weird  cry  of  the  Baptist 
must  be  heard  l)efore  the  Lord's  ''  Come  unto  Me." 
Sin  must  be  ])ainte(l  in  colors  of  hre ;  sin  and  death 
following:  after  it. 

Are  revivals  out  of  date?  No!  not  while  there 
is  salvation  in  Christ.  For,  having  found  the  source 
of  all  trouble,  the  vital  question  is,  What  will  heal 
it?  In  recent  years  the  efforts  of  medical  scientists 
have  been  turned  largely  toward  the  discovery  of 
disease  germs.  We  are  advised  that  the  bacilli  of 
typhus,  sarcoma,  and  tuberculosis  have  possibly 
been  found.  What  then?  It  remains  to  discover 
the  germicide.  That  found,  we  shall  so  far  forth 
have  an  end  of  the  ills  that  human  flesh  is  heir  to. 

But  is  there  a  cure  f(^r  this  heart  malady?  Aye, 
one  only.  While  John  was  ])reaching  by  the  Jor- 
dan, an  obscure  man  of  Nazareth,  a  carpenter,  was 
working  at  His  bench.  This  was  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God  who  had  come  from  heaven,  taking  flesh 
upon  Him,  that  He  might  enter  into  the  fcllowshi]) 
of  our  earthly  life  and  suffer  for  our  sins.  A  day 
came  when  He  closed  the  door  of  His  carpenter-shop 
and  entered  on  His  task.    He  betook  Himself  to  the 


ARE    REVIVALS   OUT   OF  DATE?  235 

synagogue,  where,  in  the  presence  of  the  assembly, 
He  opened  the  Scriptures  and  read :  "  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  Me,  because  He  hath  anointed  Me 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  He  hath  sent  Me 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 
set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  And  then  He  added, 
*'  This  day  is  the  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears !  " 
A  little  later.  He  joined  the  multitude  at  the  river- 
side, and  John  seeing  Him  cried,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  w^ho  taketh  away  the  world's  sin !  " 

This  is  the  business  of  the  evangelist,  to  point  to 
Christ  as  the  Lamb  of  God.  Not  to  dream  dreams, 
nor  to  philosophize,  nor  to  i)resent  new  theories  of 
moral  therapeutics,  but  to  point  a  way  to  Him  in 
whose  sacrifice  are  gathered  together  all  the  virtues 
of  all  the  sacrifices  that  were  ever  made  on  old-time 
altars,  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

Are  revivals  out  of  date?  Not  while  the  Church 
is  more  or  less  indifferent  to  her  work.  And  alas ! 
though  the  spirit  be  willing  the  flesh  is  weak.  Of- 
tentimes the  bride  sleeps,  while  the  bridegroom 
agonizes,  and  he  must  needs  awake  her  with  the 
reproach  of  love,  "Could  ye  not  watch  with  me?" 

Such  apath}^  whenever  and  wherever  it  occurs, 
may  be  traced  to  a  misapprehension  of  the  real  busi- 
ness of  the  Church.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that 
the  Church  is  an  organized  body  of  truth-seekers. 
The  value  of  truth  is  indeed  above  rubies ;  but,  un- 
like the  Holy  Grail  or  the  Golden  Fleece,  it  is  not 
far  to  seek.  God  has  been  pleased  to  give  us  in  His 
oracles  a  revelation  of  truth  and  to  emphasize  it  in 


236  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

the  teachings  of  His  only-begotten  Son  who  said, 
"  I  am  the  truth ;  "  so  that  our  quest  ends  at  the 
oracles  and  at  Jesus's  feet. 

It  is  a  further  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Church  is  the  mutual  edification  of  be- 
lievers. We  are  indeed  bound  by  covenant  vows 
to  the  building  of  character,  in  the  imitation  of 
Christ.  But  to  turn  aside  from  the  straight  line  of 
our  commission  to  enter  tHe  solitude  and  wrestle  for 
"  the  deepening  of  the  spiritual  life  "  is  an  absurd 
procedure.  ''  We  must  ourselves  get  into  right  rela- 
tions with  God,"  it  is  said,  "  before  we  can  go  out 
upon  a  campaign  for  souls."  This  is  a  false  cry,  and 
all  the  more  so  because  it  involves  this  modicum  of 
truth,  that  we  must  ever  be  in  a  right  attitude  toward 
God.  But  when  the  fiery  cross  is  kindled  on  the 
hills,  when  the  blast  of  the  silver  trumpet  is  heard, 
when  the  banners  are  unfurled,  then  there  is  nothing 
to  do  but  break  camp  and  go  forward.  He  is  but 
a  poor  soldier  who  in  the  campaign  tarries  to  gird 
himself  while  his  comrades  are  speeding  to  the  front; 
or  who,  like  Meroz,  instead  of  coming  up  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,  abides  among 
the  sheep-folds  listening  to  the  bleating  of  the  flock. 

It  is  a  further  mistake  to  say  that  the  supreme 
purpose  of  the  Church  is  to  "  make  this  world  a 
better  place  to  live  in."  It  is  an  axiomatic  fact  that 
a  true  follower  of  Christ  must  hold  himself  in  readi- 
ness to  do  good  as  he  has  opportunity  unto  all  men. 
He  is  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked  as  a 
matter  of  course ;  for  did  not  Jesus  say,  "  Inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  It  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  Me?  "    But  the  Christian  who  al- 


ARE   REVIVALS    OUT   OF   DATE?  237 

!  lows  his  energies  to  be  monopolized  by  the  sociolog- 
ical propositions  of  our  time  falls  infinitely  short  of 
his  Divine  commission.  To  clothe  the  naked,  feed  the 
hungry,  provide  better  homes  for  the  neglected  poor 
and  send  them  out  into  eternity  without  a  vital  in- 
terest in  the  Gospel,  is  poor  philanthropy  from  the 
standpoint  of  Christ.  For  *'  what  shall  it  profit  a 
man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own 
soul  ?  "  Sociology,  standing  by  itself,  is  the  Epi- 
cureanism of  our  time,  since  it  speaks  on  this  wise, 
"  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die." 

By  such  conceptions  of  Christian  life  and  service 
we  have  been  sidetracked  and  diverted  from  the 
main  concern,  which  is  the  quest  of  souls.  The  word 
of  the  Lord  is  plain,  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost ;"  and,  "  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me  into  the  world  so  send  I  you." 

All  ecclesiology  is  in  that  word  "  Sent ; "  and  the 
consummation  of  Christian  duty  is  in  that  other 
j  word  **  Go."  Go  ye  into  the  highways  and  the 
hedges ;  go  ye  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth ; 
go  ye  everywhere  and  constrain  them  to  come  in ! 
If  we  fail  to  apprehend  these  things,  we  are  certain 
to  fall  short  of  our  privilege  and  responsibility  as 
followers  of  Christ. 

Are  revivals  out  of  date?  Not  while  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  abroad.  He  is  the  executive  of  this  econ- 
omy. To  Him,  as  third  person  of  the  ineffable  God- 
head, is  committed  the  building  up  of  the  Kingdom, 
whose  foundations  were  laid  in  Jesus'  blood. 

The  instrument  which  for  the  most  part  He  avow- 
edly and  habitually  uses  in  the  establishment  of  this 
Kingdom    is    the    Word    of    God,    which   is    said    to 


238  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

be  ''  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder 
of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow, 
and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of 
the  heart."  As  a  sword  it  pierces  the  seared  con- 
science and  convicts  it  of  sin ;  and  then,  as  balm  of 
Gilead,  it  heals  the  wound  by  bringing  the  soul  into 
pardon  and  peace  with  God. 

But  the  Holy  Spirit  uses,  also,  the  Man  behind 
the  sword.  No  doubt  God  could  evangelize  the 
world  without  us,  but  in  infinite  condescension  and 
kindness  He  confers  upon  us  the  high  privilege  of 
co-operation  with  Him.  We  are  promised  an  "en- 
duement  of  power  "  for  this  work.  What  is  this  en- 
duement?  What  is  this  power?  The  reference  is 
not  to  any  magical  transfusion  of  supernatural 
force ;  there  is  nothing  mysterious  here.  The  endue- 
ment  which  a  Christian  receives  for  service  is  power 
in  the  practical  use  of  the  one  weapon  with  which 
He  proposes  to  bring  in  prisoners  of  hope.  The 
sword-drill  is  the  important  thing.  The  function  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  open  the  Scriptures,  to  bathe 
their  pages  with  light,  and  to  anoint  the  reader's 
eyes  with  eye-salve  that  seeing  he  may  see  and 
understand.  Thus  he  qualifies  the  workman  for  ser- 
vice, sending  him  forth  as  ''  a  workman  needing  not 
to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth  " 
— an  expert  swordsman  of  Christ. 
"  Just  here  it  becomes  apparent  why  the  much  ex- 
ploited "  new  theology  "  is  not  adequate  to  the  busi- 
ness in  hand.  In  eliminating  the  divine  factor  from 
the  Scriptures  it  undermines  all  authority  for  the 
fundamental  facts  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  logical 


ARE   REVIVALS   OUT   OF   DATE?   239 

conclusion  is  that  revivals  are  out  of  date.  Let  a 
meeting  be  called  for  evangelistic  work,  and  you 
v^ill  observe  that  the  friends  of  this  new  theology- 
are  so  wholly  out  of  their  element  that  they  can  only 
sit  twiddling  their  thumbs,  while  old-fashioned  be- 
lievers in  the  Word  are  planning  and  pleading  for 
an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  and  the  salvation  of 
souls.  The  old  truths  and  revivals  go  or  stay  to- 
gether. The  so-called  "  new  evangelism  "  is  a  mis- 
nomer inasmuch  as  it  has  no  evangel.  It  minimizes 
sin  and  sin's  penalty,  it  sterilizes  faith,  and  puts  dis- 
honour on  the  Blood  of  Calvary,  without  which  there 
is  no  remission  for  sin. 

But  however  men  may  refuse  to  fall  into  rank  or 
fall  out  along  the  way,  the  royal  standards  onward 
go.  Revivals  are  not  out  of  date  nor  ever  will  be 
until  Armageddon,  the  last  of  revivals,  shall  sweep 
all  sinners  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

It  is  fair  to  presume,  however,  that  the  revivals  of 
the  future  will  differ  in  detail  and  particular 'from 
those  of  the  past.  For  history,  notwithstanding  the 
proverb,  never  repeats  itself.  The  world  moves  and 
we  move  with  it;  else  progress  would  mean  noth- 
ing and  there  would  be  reason  to  doubt  the  persistent 
working  of  God. 

It  is  probable  that  revivals  will  be  marked  by 
more  of  thoughtfulness  and  less  of  emotional  excite- 
ment as  the  years  move  on.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  century  it  was  usual  to  hold  meetings  in  groves 
of  saplings,  so  that  such  as  were  seized  with  con- 
vulsions might  have  something  to  cling  to.  We 
dare  not  say  that  such  manifestations  were  not  in 
the  power  of  the  Spirit;  but  it  is  probable  that  in 


240         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

these  times  of  the  larger  diffusion  of  Gospel  light 
the  multitudes  will  more  calmly  think  their  way  to 
God. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  moreover,  that  the  re- 
vivals of  the  future  will  be  more  distributive  in  their 
character.  Time  was  when  the  minister  was  looked 
to  for  the  initial  step ;  and  not  infrequently  he  felt 
constrained  b}^  a  sense  of  personal  incompetency  to 
call  in  an  evangelist.  But  for  half  a  century,  now, 
there  have  been  training-schools  within  the  Church 
in  which  the  rank  and  file  of  Christians  have  been 
equipped  and  drilled  for  practical  work.  This  means 
that  every  one  must  henceforth  be  his  own  evangel- 
ist, bearing  his  own  commission,  and  going  out  as 
one  man  to  save  another  man.  A  Christian  worthy 
of  the  privilege  of  these  times  can  no  longer  farm 
out  his  responsibility  to  evangelists  in  or  out  of 
"  holy  orders,"  but  must  himself  be  a  fisher  of  men. 

It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  revivals  of  the  future 
will  be  more  Biblical  than  ever.  The  thing  that  oc- 
curred at  the  water-gate,  when  Ezra  with  his  assis- 
tants read  from  one  official  copy  of  the  Scriptures 
to  the  assembled  multitude,  can  never  occur  again, 
for  there  are  Bibles  everywhere  in  these  days.  The 
leaves  of  the  Tree  of  Life  are  falling  fast  on  all  the 
children  of  men.  And  those  who  believe  the  Bible 
now  —  and  they  are  an  exceeding  great  multitude 
whom  no  man  can  number — believe  it  all  the  more 
because  they  have  seen  it  pass  through  the  fires  of 
controversy  without  the  smell  of  smoke  upon  it. 
The  sword  of  the  Spirit  will  flash  more  brightly  than 
ever  in  the  campaigns  of  the  future.  It  will  not  be 
returned  to  its  scabbard  until  it  has  fully  accom- 


ARE   REVIVALS  OUT  OF  DATE?   241 

plished  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  and  prospered  in  the 
thing-  whereto  He  sent  it. 

But  all  future  revivals  will  be  like  those  of  the 
past  in  recognizing  Jesus  as  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  Gospel  of  life.  It  will 
ever  be  as  it  was  by  the  Jordan  when  Jesus  came 
to  supplant  John :  and  as  He  stood  in  the  water  the 
skies  were  opened,  and  a  Voice,  of  which  the  voice 
from  the  wilderness  was  but  an  echo,  said  "  This  is 
My  beloved  Son  ;  hear  ye  Him  !  " 

In  the  suggestion  of  a  revival  there  inevitably 
arises  a  question  which  searches  the  heart.  Do  we 
want  it?  Are  we  willing  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
self-surrender  which  must  ever  accompany  it?  Do 
we  long  and  pray  for  it  as  those  who  cry,  "  How 
long!  O  Lord,  how  long?"  Do  we  with  faith  ex- 
pect it? 

As  Elijah  knelt  on  Carmel  with  his  face  between 
his  knees,  pleading  for  rain,  he  bade  his  servant  go 
look  toward  the  sea.  And  he  went  and  looked  and 
answered,  "There  is  nothing."  Seven  times  Elijah 
said,  "  Go  look  toward  the  sea ;"  and  it  came  to  pass 
at  the  seventh  time  his  servant  said,  "  Behold,  there 
arises  a  little  cloud  like  a  man's  hand."  The  prophet 
sprang  to  his  feet :  "  Go  up,"  he  cried,  "  and  say  unto 
Ahab,  '  Prepare  thy  chariot  and  get  thee  down,  that 
the  rain  stop  thee  not.' "  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  upon  Elijah,  and  he  girded  his  loins,  and  ran 
before  Ahab  to  the  entrance  of  the  city.  Oh,  for 
the  faith  that  prays  without  ceasing  and  looks  ex- 
pectantly toward  the  sea!  Oh,  for  the  faith  that 
welcomes  the  cloud  and  rejoices  in  the  downpour 
of  the  early  and  the  latter  rains! 


242       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

Ah  no,  revivals  are  not  out  of  date !  Nor  can 
they  be  so  long-  as  the  earth  is  thirsty,  so  long  as 
God's  people  are  willing  to  be  blessed,  so  long  as 
the  promises  of  the  Lord  are  Yea  and  Amen.  Hear 
now  what  he  saith :  "  Bring  ye  all  tithes  into  the 
storehouse — tithes  of  time,  energy,  and  possession — 
and  prove  me  herewith,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the 
windows  of  heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  enough  jto  receive  it." 


XIX 
IS  THE  CHURCH  LOSING  GROUND? 

IN  a  bay-window  overlooking  the  Strand  in  Lon- 
don sat  Thomas  Carlyle,  the  cross-grained  sage 
of  Craigenputtoch,  pen  in  hand  and  eyes  upon 
the  madding  crowd.  "  There  are  in  this  city,"  he 
wrote,  "  some  four  millions  of  people,  mostly  fools." 
Nor  was  he  far  amiss  in  this  generalization ;  only  he 
should  have  added  quorum  pars  sum,  since  the  sanest 
has  no  sanity  to  boast  of. 

See  the  people  :  the  immortals  jostling  one  another 
along  the  busy  ways ;  intent  on  getting  together  a 
little  yellow  dust  or  chasing  butterflies  and  thistle- 
down or  grasping  at  laurel  wreaths ;  beings  "  with 
the  geometry  of  heaven  in  their  brain  and  the  un- 
fathomable galaxies,"  born  of  God  and  bound  for 
Eternity,  killing  time,  caviling  at  destiny,  flinging 
opportunity  to  the  left  hand  and  privilege  to  the 
right;  their  eyes  hot  with  passion  and  brows  scarred 
by  the  plowshare  of  vain  chastisement :  blind  to  the 
lessons  of  yesterday  and  reckless  of  to-morrow, 
furnishing  forth  the  wedding-feast  with  the  baked 
meats  of  the  last  funeral ;  wielding  the  lash  or  cring- 
ing under  it;  leading  the  rattling  chariots  to  death, 
or  following  in  chains ;  singers  and  dancers ;  kings 
and  potentates ;  misers  with  muckrakes,  profligates 
scattering  their  ill-gotten  gains ;  the  Upper  Ten- 
thousand  treading  on  the  heels  of  the  Submerged 

243 


244         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

Tenth  and  the  Third  Estate  bearing  the  burdens  of 
both ;  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  reeling,  danc- 
ing, stalking,  staggering — aye,  "  mostly  fools ;"  fools 
who,  ''  forever  hastening  to  the  grave,  stoop  down- 
ward as  they  run." 

And  who  cares?  God  cares;  that  is,  if  God  is  our 
Father  as  we  have  supposed  Him  to  be.  If,  how- 
ever, the  propositions  of  the  much-exploited  "  New 
Theology  "  are  correct — if  God  is  an  insensate  Force 
and  the  Bible  is  an  indifferent  sort  of  "  literature,"  and 
the  world  is  "  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,"  and 
man  is  the  remote  descendant  of  the  primordial 
germ,  and  sin  is  a  "  belief  of  mortal  mind,"  and  life 
"  a  definite  combination  of  heterogeneous  changes 
both  simultaneous  and  successive  in  correspondence 
with  external  coincidences  and  sequences,"  and 
thought  is  the  result  of  atomic  friction  in  the  gray 
matter  of  the  brain  and  Providence  is  coincidence, 
and  hell  is  a  nightmare  and  heaven  a  dream — then 
God  does  not  care,  and  it  would  not  much  matter  if 
He  did. 

But  our  Father  has  eyes  to  see,  a  heart  to  pity 
and  almighty  arms  to  save.  He  cares  for  the  people. 
He  cares  for  them  distributively,  calling  them  by 
name,  numbering  the  very  hairs  of  their  heads.  And 
He  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  Purple  and  home- 
spun are  alike  to  Him.  A  man's  a  man  before  Him. 
The  meanest  Zulu  kneeling  to  a  wooden  fetish  is  as 
precious  in  His  sight  as  the  Baron  Rothschild.  He 
notes  the  guinea,  not  the  guinea's  stamp.  To  this 
Husbandman  at  the  threshing  floor  the  adventitious 
conditions  which  separate  us  into  castes,  as  rich  and 
poor,  plebs  and  aristocrats,  are  but  chaff  which  the 


THE    CHURCH   LOSING    GROUND?    245 

wind  driveth  away.  All  are  His  children  and  His 
love  is  toward  all. 

The  preeminent  proof  of  God's  love  for  the  people 
is  in  the  fact  that  He  so  loved  the  world,  that  He 
gave  His  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlast- 
ing life.  He  knew  the  people  to  be  "  mostly  fools ;" 
yet,  despite  their  folly  He  had  compassion  on  them. 
And  there  is  no  discrimination  in  His  grace,  but 
universal  amnesty  on  the  sole  condition  that  the 
rebel  shall  lay  down  his  arms.  In  Christ  we  have 
the  incarnate  expression  of  this  loving,  seeking,  sav- 
ing God.  It  was  prophesied  by  Ezekiel  that  he 
should  go  forth,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  to  search  on 
the  dark  mountains,  "  as  a  shepherd  seeketh  out 
his  flock  and  delivereth  them  out  of  all  places  where 
they  have  been  scattered  in  the  cloudy  and  dark 
day." 

And  the  Church  is  a  further  expression  of  this 
compassionate  love.  It  is  made  up  of  followers  of 
Christ  who  are  commissioned  and  under  bonds  to  go 
out  and  bring  the  people  back  to  God. 

How  is  it  then  that,  after  the  lapse  of  eighteen 
centuries,  there  are  twelve  hundred  millions  of  un- 
saved people  in  the  world?  Is  the  Church  therefore 
a  failure  ?  Nay ;  else  there  would  not  be  four  hun- 
dred millions  of  people  to-day  who  acknowledge  the 
claims  of  the  Gospel.  But  wh5t  of  the  multitudes 
who  still  pass  by,  who  see  in  Christ  no  form  nor 
comeliness  that  they  should  desire  Him,  who  hear 
the  church-bells  ringing  and  heed  them  not? 

Who  is  to  blame?  In  the  last  reduction  the  people 
are  themselves  to  blame.     For  God  hath  nowhere 


246         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

left  Himself  without  a  witness :  there  is  not  a  soul 
among  the  lapsed  masses  who  has  not  light  enough 
for  salvation  if  only  he  lived  up  to  it;  as  Jesus  said, 
*'  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life." 
But  this  did  not  prevent  his  profound  compassion : 
''  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you  together  as 
a  hen  doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings  and 
ye  would  not !  " 

We  ministers,  also,  are  to  blame.  Let  judgment 
begin  at  the  house  of  the  under-shepherds.  We  have 
a  message  to  proclaim  which  should  thrill  through 
every  fiber  of  our  being  and  fall  in  burning  words 
from  our  lips.  What  truths  are  these :  God,  the  love 
that  passeth  knowledge,  the  tragedy  of  the  cross, 
immortality,  faith  and  duty,  responsibility,  righteous- 
ness and  judgment  to  come!  Yet  how  dull  we 
are;  how  careful  to  round  our  periods  and  polish 
our  rhetoric  and  air  our  learning  and  eloquence  in 
the  presence  of  souls  bound  for  eternity!  They  tell 
us  sometimes  that  we  preach  "  beautiful  sermons," 
the  more's  the  pity.  Souls  famish  on  rhetoric, 
"  faultily   faultless,  icily  regular,  splendidly  null." 

Water,    water   everywhere. 

And    all    the    boards    did    shrink; 

Water,  water  everywhere, 
And  not  a  drop  to  drink! 

But  the  fault  is  not  ours  alone ;  it  is  a  true  saying, 
"  Like  people  like  priest."  The  law  of  demand  and 
supply  is  honoured  in  our  congregations ;  and  the 
rank  and  file  of  Christians  are  to  blame  for  it.  There 
is  a  misconception  as  to  the  mission  of  the  Church. 
A  bark  sailing  on  the  Pacific  hailed  a  ship  which 


THE    CHURCH   LOSING   GROUND?    247 

gave  no  token  of  life  except  a  man  feebly  waving  a 
signal  of  distress.  It  proved  to  be  stricken  with  the 
plague.  The  captain,  first  mate,  and  steward  were 
dead ;  the  boatswain  gone  mad ;  the  crew  and  pas- 
sengers lying  on  the  decks  moaning  for  help.  There 
are  those  who  conceive  the  Church  to  be  such  a 
floating  hospital  as  that,  where  men  and  women  are 
chiefly  intent  upon  saving  themselves  from  spiritual 
death  or,  in  their  convalescence,  pleading  ever  for 
the  deepening  of  their  spiritual  life.  But  this  is 
not  the  Church  as  Christ  designed  it.  Nay,  it  is  a 
relief  ship  going  out  to  rescue  stricken  derelicts ;  it 
is  a  body  of  life-savers,  self-forgetful,  devoted,  heroic, 
going  forth  to  save  their  fellow  men. 

And  along  this  line,  if  ever,  we  must  win  the 
lapsed  masses.  In  some  way  or  other,  justly  or  un- 
justly, they  have  been  alienated  from  the  Church. 
At  the  bottom  of  their  hearts  they  have  the  longing 
for  everlasting  life  which  is  common  to  all,  but  they 
go  their  various  ways,  declining  to  join  us.  It  be- 
hooves us  to  rest  not  until  we  have  done  our  utmost 
to  constrain  them  to  come  in. 

To  this  end  they  must  be  given  to  understand  at 
the  outset  that  a  cordial  welcome  awaits  them.  The 
Church  must  keep  open  house.  INIuch  that  is  said 
against  the  system  of  pew-rental  is  ill-grounded  and 
fallacious.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should 
not  have  our  family  pews :  but  there  is  a  theory  of 
the  pew-rental  which  is  utterly  abominable ;  to  wit, 
that  a  man  can,  for  a  monetary  consideration,  own 
a  pew  in  fee  simple  and  hold  it  against  all  comers.  I 
believe  this  giveth  an  ill  savor  in  the  nostrils  of 
God.     All  pews  must  be  held  under  the  conditions 


248  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

of  Christian  hospitality.  If  I  feel  bound  by  common 
courtesy  to  admit  the  stranger  who  stands  at  the 
doorway  of  my  home,  I  surely  have  no  right  to  keep 
that  stranger  waiting  in  the  vestibule  of  the  house 
of  God.  The  courtesy  of  the  sanctuary  should  be, 
at  least,  upon  as  high  a  level  as  the  courtesy  of  our 
domestic  life.  And  let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  the 
sanctuary  is  not  the  house  of  the  pewholder  but  the 
house  of  God. 

We  must,  moreover,  come  into  a  closer  touch  with 
the  people.  They  do  not  want  our  charity,  but  our 
fraternal  sympathy.  The  plan  of  having  Churches 
for  the  rich  and  "  chapels  "  or  missions  for  the  poor 
may  be  necessary  in  present  conditions,  but  only  as 
a  temporary  expedient.  God  speed  the  day  when  it 
shall  be  understood  that  the  Church  is  the  divinely 
appointed  place  where  the  rich  and  the  poor  meet 
together  and  acknowledge  the  Lord  as  the  maker  of 
them  all !  To  stand  at  arm's  length  and  offer  our 
beneficence  to  the  people  is  not  Christian  treatment 
and  they  know  it.  The  mind  of  the  Third  Estate 
may  be  inferred  from  a  remark  made  in  a  recent  as- 
sembl}'  of  handicraftsmen  :  "  \Yq  are  asked  to  accept 
a  free  library  at  the  hands  of  a  man  who  has  coined 
millions  out  of  our  toil.  We  do  not  want  his  con- 
tribution of  free  literature.  His  money  perish  with 
him !  "  We  may  deprecate  the  sentiment,  but  it 
betrays  the  feeling  of  the  poor.  They  resent  the 
charity  which  comes  like  a  bone  thrown  to  a  dog; 
they  feel  that  they  are  entitled,  in  their  pains  and 
labors,  to  our  cordial,  practical  sympathy.  An  ounce 
of  such  sympathy  is  better  than  a  ton  of  distant 
charity.     The  night  before  the  execution  of  John 


THE   CHURCH   LOSING   GROUND?    249 

Huss,  as  he  was  being  hurried  from  the  judgment 
hall  to  prison,  he  felt  amid  the  crowd  a  hand  grasp- 
ing his  and  pressing  it.  He  saw  the  friendly  face, 
and  that  night  he  wrote,  "  God  bless  John  of  Chlum 
for  that  right  hand  of  his !  "  This  is  what  the  people 
want;  the  right  hand  of  love  and  sympathy  and 
helpfulness  in  the  name  of  the  compassionate  Son 
of  God. 

The  Church  needs,  also,  a  wider  sweep  in  her 
efforts  to  win  the  people.  We  have  been  accustomed 
\y  to  seek  too  exclusively  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of 
men.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  the  soul  as  some- 
thing which  a  man  carries  about  with  him.  This  is 
not  the  Scriptural  thought.  Christ  came  to  save  the 
whole  man  ;  and  he  enjoined  upon  His  followers  the 
deliverance  of  the  whole  man.  It  is  a  difficult  mat- 
ter to  consider  soul  and  body  apart ;  as  Tristram 
Shandy  said,  "They  are  like  a  jerkin  and  its  lining: 
rumple  the  one  and  you  crumple  the  other."  We 
have  too  often  forgotten  this,  but  our  Master  was 
mindful  of  it.  He  fed  the  five  thousand  while  he 
preached  to  them.  He  healed  disease  while  probing 
for  the  sin  beneath  it.  He  denounced  the  Pharisees 
not  more  for  blocking  the  gateway  of  heaven  than 
for  devouring  widows'  houses. 

We  are  reminded  by  those  who  make  no  pro- 
fession of  religion  that  we  have  not  followed  Christ 
into  the  dense  and  populous  haunts  of  misery  and 
shame.  In  so  far  as  the  point  is  well  taken,  let  us 
not  resent  it.  The  only  approach  to  a  soul  is 
through  the  atmosphere  that  environs  it.  In  one  of 
Dr.  Guthrie's  letters  he  tells  of  visiting,  on  a  winter's 
day,  a  woman  dying  in  an  attic,  on  whom  all  hi§ 


l^ 


250        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

earnest  appeals  made  no  impression.  At  length  he 
said,  "  My  good  woman,  do  you  not  realize  that  you 
are  passing  into  eternity?  Do  you  care  nothing  that 
you  must  in  a  few  moments  stand  before  God  in 
judgment?"  She  shivered  as  she  drew  the  scant 
covering  about  her,  and  said,  "  No  more  would  you, 
Dr.  Guthrie,  if  you  were  as  cold  as  I  am !  " 

We  are,  for  these  reasons,  bound  to  rejoice  in  the 
present  discussion  of  sociological  problems ;  but 
there  is  something  else  to  be  said  on  the  other  side. 
A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth.  In  view  of  the  relative 
importance  of  time  and  eternity  it  is  manifestly  the 
height  of  folly  to  lose  sight  of  the  more  important 
issues  in  our  eagerness  to  "  make  this  world  a  better 
place  to  live  in." 

It  is  related  that,  at  a  recent  service  in  one  of  our 
conventional  churches,  an  old  woman  was  so  car- 
ried away  by  religious  fervour  that  she  cried,  "  Hal- 
lelujah!" Whereupon  an  usher  reproved  her: 
"What  does  this  mean?  What  are  you  doing?" 
She  said,  "  I  am  getting  religion."  To  which  he 
replied,  "  You  should  know,  my  good  woman,  that 
this  is  no  place  to  get  religion."  The  pathos  of  this 
incident  far  exceeds  its  humour.  Is  it  true  that  there 
are  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  where  the  presentation 
of  scientific  and  philosophical,  ethical  and  sociolog- 
ical propositions  is  so  emphasized  that  the  religion 
of  eternal  salvation  is  practically  ruled  out?  To 
spend  one's  energies  in  the  betterment  of  the  mere 
physical  environment  of  the  people  is  to  undertake 
to  boil  the  kettle  from  the  top. 

The  greatest  of  sociological  problems,  when  all  is 


THE    CHURCH    LOSING   GROUND?  251 

said  and  done,  is  to  regenerate  the  moral  nature  of 
humanity  and  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the  social 
order  of  the  universe.  God  and  immortality  must 
come  into  the  reckoning.  Leigh  Hunt  was  a  poor 
philosopher;  no  **  Abou  Ben  Adhem  "  who  fails  to 
recognize  the  supreme  claims  of  the  All-Father  can 
be  written  down  as  one  who  truly  "  loves  his  fellow 
men ;"  for  the  Brotherhood  of  ^lan  rests  on  the 
Fatherhood  of  God.  Let  us  by  all  means  make  a 
heaven  here  below,  but  alas  for  us  if  we  see  not  the 
larger  heaven  beyond.  For  as  the  flight  of  an  eagle 
is  to  the  sweep  of  the  centuries,  so  is  the  life  here 
to  the  life  forever.  And  this  is  the  life  which  is 
brought  to  light  in  the  Gospel.  The  prisoner  of 
Chillon,  doomed  to  solitary  despair,  saw  a  rift  in 
his  dungeon  wall.  Dragging  his  chain,  he  clambered 
upward  and  looked  through.  There  lay  the  silver 
lake  framed  in  the  mountains  and  the  blue  heavens 
over  all.  As  he  gazed  through  tears,  a  bird  began 
to  sing, 

A  lovely  bird  with  azure  wings, 
And   song   that   said   a   thousand   things, 
And  seemed  to  say  them  all  to  me. 

Our  world  is  populous  with  sorrowing  souls;  it  is 
for  us  to  lighten  the  pains  of  their  imprisonment,  but, 
best  of  all,  to  help  them  upward  to  the  window  that 
opens  toward  the  eternal  life.  This  is  to  bring  them, 
despite  all  narrowness  of  circumstance,  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

In  general  terms,  we  need  to  get  back  to  Christ. 
Let  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus  be  also  in 
us.     He  was  the  people's  Christ.     He  was  crucified 


252  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

on  a  hilltop,  beside  a  thoroughfare,  in  presence  of 
the  multitude,  with  His  hands  stretched  out.  He 
tasted  death  for  every  man.  The  benefits  of  His 
vicarious  death  are  offered  on  terms  within  the  reach 
of  all.  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money;  come  ye, 
buy  and  eat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  jvithout 
money  and  without  price." 

The  words  of  His  Gospel  are  great  words,  "  All," 
"Every  one,"  "Whoever,"  "Whosoever."  Here 
surely  is  no  respect  of  persons.  The  same  terms  are 
offered  to  Nicodemus, — Doctor  of  Divinity  and  Doc- 
tor of  Laws  by  grace  of  the  Sanhedrin, — and  to  the 
penitent  thief  hanging  on  the  crumbling  verge  of 
the  abyss.  Rabbis  and  fishermen,  knights  and 
friendless  outcasts,  vestals  and  magdalens,  gathered 
around  His  cross.  The  sublimest  deed  of  self-sacri- 
fice that  earth  or  heaven  ever  gazed  on  was  enacted 
there.  It  was  the  fitting  climax  and  consummation 
of  Christ's  work  for  the  people.  There  was  never  a 
moment  in  His  ministry  when  He  could  not  have  re- 
lieved Himself  from  all  danger  by  identifying  Himself 
with  the  aristocratic  party.  The  Jews,  led  by  their 
phylacteried  rabbis,  wished  Him  to  dispense  sal- 
vation to  them  exclusively.  His  answer  was :  "  As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even 
so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life." 

This  "  whosoever  "  was  the  shibboleth  of  His  re- 
demptive work.  He  had  compassion  on  the  multi- 
tudes, seeing  them  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 
The  philosophers  by  the  Ilissus  had  elaborated  a 


THE   CHURCH   LOSING   GROUND?    253 

system  for  the  learned  few ;  Jesus  set  forth  a  Gospel 
plain  and  simple  for  wayfaring  men.  Wherefore 
"  the  people  heard  Him,"  "  the  people  pressed  upon 
Him,"  ''  The  common  people  heard  Him  gladly." 
His  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  masses,  '*  the 
unshod  multitude,"  provoked  the  wrath  of  the 
ecclesiastical  gentry.  It  was  they  who  sentenced 
Him  to  death ;  and,  dying,  He  ''  tasted  death  for  every 
man." 

And  before  He  ascended  into  the  heavens  He 
gathered  His  disciples  about  Him  and  put  them 
under  commission,  saying,  ''  Go  ye !  "  A  paper  was 
recently  read  in  a  ministerial  association  on  "  The 
Secret  of  Winning  the  Masses."  There  is  no  secret 
about  it.  The  Lord  made  it  plain  long  ago.  He 
marked  out  the  plan  of  campaign.  As  to  Foreign 
Missions,  He  said,  "  Go  ye  into  all  lands  and  preach 
My  Gospel,"  and  as  to  Home  Missions  He  said,  ''  Go 
ye  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compel 
them  to  come  in."  In  any  case  and  always,  "  Go !  " 
It  is  not  enough  to  build  sanctuaries  and  invite  the 
people  to  come  in.  We  must  go  out  and  constrain 
them.  Paul  won  ^Macedonia  when  he  went  out  after 
it.  Hans  Egede  won  Greenland  when  he  went  out 
after  it.  Christ  won  the  world  because  He  laid  aside 
the  robes  of  heaven  and  went  out  after  it.  The 
Church  will  win  the  unchurched  masses  when  it 
leaves  its  cloistered  retirement  and  goes  out  after 
them. 


CONCLUSION 


Life  is  coming,  Death  is  going, 
Quickly  past  us  time  is  flowing; 
Day  is   dawning,  Time  is  flying, 
Soon  shall  end  this  grief  and  sighing! 
Rest  is  nearing.  Toil  is  ending. 
Homeward  now  our  path  is  bending; 
Right  is  hasting,  Wrong  is  leaving, 
Earth  ere  long  shall  cease  its  grieving. 
Love  is  coming,  Hate  is  going. 
Seeds  of  unity  are  sowing; 
Fear  is  passing,   Hope  is  brightening; 
Burdened    brows    and    hearts    are    lightening; 
Cells  are  bursting,  Chains  are  breaking, 
Weary  spirits  cease  their  waking. 
Tears  are  drying,  Songs  are  breaking, 
Earth's  glad  echoes  are  awaking. 
Graves  are   opening,   Dead  are  meeting. 
Heaven  and  earth  each  other  greeting. 
Hill  and  vale  put  on  their  gladness, 
Not  a  trace  remains  of  sadness. 
Amen,   Amen! 

BONAR 


XX 
A  FORECAST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  AGE 

IN  the  account  of  the  Creation  there  are  two  words, 
tohti  vavohii,  rendered  ''  without  form  and  void," 
which  cover  a  period  of  immeasurable  aeons.  The 
world  was  being  fused  and  smelted  into  shape.  The 
elements  were  in  conflict.  The  incandescent  mass 
was  enveloped  by  clouds  of  igneous  and  corrosive 
vapours,  and  fitfully  illuminated  by  electric  gleams 
issuing  from  the  tossing  maelstrom.  Such  was 
"  Chaos ;"  in  which,  as  in  a  great  blast-furnace, 
were  forged  the  beams  and  girders  of  the  mighty 
temple  which  was  being  reared  for  the  habitation  of 
man.  Ovid,  the  last  of  the  Augustan  poets,  describes 
it  thus: 

The  face  of  nature 
Was  a  rude,  tumultuous  mass; 
A  lifeless  lump,  unfashioned  and  unframed, 
Of  jarring  elements.      'Twas  "Chaos"  named. 
No  sun  had  lighted  up  the  world  to  view; 
No  moon  did  yet  her  blunted  horns  renew; 
Nor  yet  was  earth  suspended  in  the  sky; 
Nor,  poised,  did  on  her  own  foundations  lie; 
Nor  seas  about  the  shores  their  arms  had  thrown; 
But  air  and  earth  and  water  all  were  one. 
The  air  was  void  of  light,  the  earth  unstable. 
The  water's  .dark  abyss  unnavigable. 
No  certain  form  on  any  was  impressed: 
All  were  confused  and  each  disturbed  the  rest 

257 


258       CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

In  contrast  with  this  Pagan  conception  of  the 
world's  formative  period  we  cite  the  description  of 
Milton  in  his  Paradise  Lost: 

Matter  unformed  and  void!     Darkness  profound 
Covered  the  abyss  :  but  on  the  watery  calm 
His  brooding  wings  the  Spirit  of  God  outspread, 
And  vital  virtue  infus'd,  and  vital  warmth 
Throughout  the  fluid  mass;  but  downward  purged 
The  black,  tartareous,  cold,  infernal  dregs 
Adverse  to  life.     Then  founded,  then  conglobed 
Like  things  to  like,  the  rest  to  several  place 
Disparted,  and  between  spun  out  the  air; 
And  earth  self-balanced  on  her  centre  hung. 

The  point  of  vital  contrast  between  the  two  con- 
ceptions is  marked  in  Milton's  words,  "  But  on  the 
watery  calm  his  brooding  wings  the  Spirit  of  God 
outspread."  To  the  pagan  poet  Chaos  was  "  con- 
fusion worse  confounded ;"  to  the  Christian  poet  the 
warring  elements  were  under  the  control  of  an 
omniscient  power  whose  ultimate  purpose  was  to 
infuse  "  vital  virtue  "  and  "  vital  warmth  "  through- 
out the  fluid  mass.  Thus,  in  process  of  the  mighty 
aeons,  the  clouds  lifted  and  "  between  spun  out  the 
air."  Out  of  the  molten  mass  of  mingled  and  em- 
battled elements  the  islands  and  mountains,  jostling 
and  shouldering  one  another  in  fierce  titanic  strife, 
emerged  and  towered  aloft.  Light  triumphed  over 
darkness,  order  succeeded  discord,  cosmos  was 
evolved  out  of  chaos ;  life  appeared,  the  fields  blos- 
somed and  the  birds  began  to  sing. 

A  counterpart  to  this  is  found  in  the  province  of 
moral  and  religious  things.  We  are  living  in  a  pre- 
paratory period ;  we  are  getting  ready  for  the  Golden 


FORECAST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  AGE  259 

Age.  The  confusions  and  controversies  of  our  time 
are  precursory  to  ultimate  and  universal  order  and 
symmetry.  Truth  and  error  jostle  one  another  like 
the  elements  in  primeval  chaos;  theism  and  atheism, 
faith  and  materialism,  Christianity  and  antichrist  are 
at  endless  strife.  It  presents  the  appearance  of  a 
mighty  convulsion,  an  impending  cataclysm,  so  that 
some  are  moved  to  cry,  *'  The  end  of  the  world  is 
drawing  near !  "  No,  no ;  this  is  not  the  end,  but 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  The  Spirit  of  God  is 
brooding  over  all,  so  that  out  of  this  apparent  dis- 
order is  destined  to  come  the  reign  of  millennial  truth 
and  righteousness.  The  "  one  far-off  divine  event," 
toward  which  this  warring  of  the  moral  elements  is 
moving  with  the  certainty  of  a  divine  ordinance,  is 
that  Golden  Age  in  which  the  tabernacle  of  God 
shall  be  among  men. 

It  may  not  be  unprofitable  to  venture  a  forecast 
respecting  the  outlines  of  truth  as  they  will  then  ap- 
pear. For  the  fluid  conflict  of  opinion  in  these  cha- 
otic times  is  destined  to  furnish  forth  the  outlines 
of  the  final  Confession  of  Faith.  In  this  purpose 
we  shall  not  proceed  along  the  lines  of  mere  hy- 
pothesis; since,  believing  in  the  supervision  of  the 
Spirit  that  broods  over  all,  and  in  the  promise  of  the 
Master  "  He  shall  lead  you  into  all  the  truth,"  we 
have  solid  ground  on  which  to  proceed  and  a  ra- 
tional faith  by  which  to  anticipate  the  final  oncome. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  creed  of  the  Golden  'Age 
will  he  made  up  of  simple  truths. 

A  system  which  is  to  be  of  universal  prevalence 
must  of  necessity  be  such  as  addresses  itself  to  all 
sorts   and   conditions   of   men.     One  of  the   early; 


260         CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

fathers  said,  ''  Christianity  is  a  river  deep  enough  to 
drown  an  elephant  and  yet  so  shallow  that  a  sheep 
may  ford  it."  No  doubt  there  are  depths;  but  the 
saving  doctrines  of  our  faith  are  not  so.  The  King's 
highway  is  for  the  simplest  of  wayfaring  men. 

Over  the  doorway  of  one  of  the  Greek  schools 
was  the  legend,  "  Let  no  one  who  has  not  mastered 
mathematics  presume  to  enter  here."  The  philoso- 
phy of  the  Greeks  was  for  the  select  few.  Let  us 
place  over  against  that  inscription  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  who  taking  a  child  upon  His  knee  said, 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  become  as 
this  little  child,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God."  Here  is  a  deeper,  broader,  far  more 
significant  and  prophetic  saying  than  we  have 
thought  it.  The  esoteric  systems  must  die.  The 
truth  that  ultimately  prevails  will  be  as  clear  as  the 
break  of  day. 

Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthian  Church,  in- 
quires, ''Where  is  the  wise?  Where  is  the  scribe? 
Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world?"  Which  he 
answers  on  this  wise,  "  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise  and  the 
weak  things  to  confound  the  mighty,  that  no  flesh 
should  glory  in  His  presence." 

The  world  by  its  wisdom  has  not  thus  far  been 
able  to  find  out  God  or  the  important  truths  which 
centre  in  God.  Li  any  case,  indeed,  wisdom  is  but 
a  relative  term.  Everything  depends  on  circum- 
stances. It  has  been  observed  that  when  a  ship  is 
on  the  stocks,  the  shipbuilder  is  the  wise  man;  when 
she  is  under  sail  the  skipper,  with  his  chart,  is  the 
wise  man;  but  when  she  is  wrecked  on  a  desert 


FORECAST   OF  THE   GO.T.DEN   AGE  261 

island  and  provisions  are  sho^'t,  the  ship's  cook  is 
the  wise  man.  Scientists  ana  philosophers  have 
their  place ;  but  when  the  question  of  salvation  is 
raised  they,  unaided,  are  at  their  wits'  end. 

The  mind  unbiased  by  the  methods  of  the  schools 
is  under  obvious  limitations,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
as  to  its  receptive  attitude  toward  the  fundamentals 
of  spiritual  truth.  It  is  a  common  observation 
among  those  who  are  familiar  with  children,  that 
their  wise  saying-s  are  frequently  such  as  indicate  a 
close  and  intimate  touch  with  God.  Wordsworth 
pays  tribute  to  this  fact  in  his  "  Intimations  of  Imor- 
tality,"  where  he  says,  "  Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our 
infancy ;"  and  Miss  Muloch  in  her  words  to  a  sleep- 
ing child : 

The  spirit  that  there  lies  sleeping  now 

Shall  rise  like  a  giant  and  make  men  bow 

As  to  one  heaven-chosen  amongst  his  peers. 

Rebels  within  thee  and  foes  without 

Will   snatch  at  thy  crown; 

But  march  on  glorious, 

Martyr,  yet  monarch!  till  angels  shout 

As  thou  sittest  at  the  feet  of  God  victorious, 

Philip,  my  King! 

We  remark,  also,  that  the  final  Confession  of  Faith 
will  consist  of  positive  truths. 

The  announcement  of  a  "  New  Theology "  in 
these  times  in  quite  premature.  As  yet  the  moun- 
tains of  the  cosmic  epoch  have  not  appeared ;  and 
certain  it  is  that  no  theology,  which  is  founded  on 
mere  negations,  can  stand  as  the  ultimate  system. 
The  manifesto  of  liberalism  is  in  no  wise  construc- 
tive, but  a  mere  framework  of  denials.  It  utters 
forth  its  "  Apostles*  Creed  "  on  this  wise : 


262        CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

I  do  not  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  the 
Maker  of  heaven  and  earth;  but  in  an  impersonal, 
all-pervading  Force. 

I  do  not  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only-begotten 
Son,  our  Lord;  but  in  Jesus  as  an  excellent  man 
among  men. 

I  do  not  believe  that  His  crucifixion  under  Pontius 
Pilate  had  any  connection  with  the  redemption  of 
the  race;  but  that  He  died  as  a  martyr,  who  expos- 
ing His  breast  to  the  shafts  of  the  adversary  met 
His  fate  heroically,  like  many  other  men. 

I  do  not  believe  that  He  rose  again  from  the  dead, 
except  in  a  metaphorical  sense ;  or  that  He  ascended 
into  heaven  and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
the  Father  Almighty,  except,  as  all  right-living  men 
shall  do. 

I  do  not  believe  He  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead  ;  but  that  the  judgment  is  going  on  here 
and  now. 

I  do  not  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  Third 
Person  of  the  ineffable  Godhead ;  but  as  a  mere  im- 
personal affluence  or  effluence  that  rests  for  good 
upon  all. 

I  do  not  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  by  virtue 
of  any  atonement  which  was  wrought  in  Christ; 
but  that  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap,  unless,  by  default  of  justice,  he  may  escape  it. 

It  is  absurd  and  preposterous  to  suppose  that  any 
such  system  of  denials  and  contradictions  is  to  con- 
stitute the  faith  of  the  Golden  Age.  On  the  contrary 
it  merely  marks  the  progress  of  the  chaotic  conflict 
of  opinion  out  of  which  sooner  or  later  will  arise  the 
clear  outlines  of  formulated  and  universally  accepted 


FORECAST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  AGE  263 

truth;  truth  that  shall  be  asserted  not  with  ifs  and 
peradventures,  but  with  an  unwavering  Yea  and 
Amen. 

And,  further,  the  emphasis  will  he  placed  on  essen- 
tial truths;  that  is,  on  such  as  have  a  practical  bearing 
upon  character  and  usefulness ;  all  else  will  go. 

We  make  a  great  deal,  in  these  formative  times, 
of  the  jot  and  tittle  of  things.  We  contend  for 
theories.  We  cleave  asunder  on  questions  of  mint, 
anise  and  cummin ;  and  set  ourselves  in  battle  array 
by  reason  of  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper 
breadth  of  our  fringes  and  phylacteries.  This  is 
child's  play :  and  the  time  is  coming  when  we  shall 
be  ashamed  of  it.  "  When  I  was  a  child,"  says  Paul, 
"  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I 
thought  as  a  child,  but  when  I  became  a  man  I  put 
away  childish  things ;"  the  reference  being  not  now 
to  the  simplicity,  but  to  the  frivolity  of  childhood. 
The  world's  maturity  has  yet  to  come;  and  when  it 
comes  men  and  women  will  recall  many  of  the  occa- 
sions of  controversy  in  our  time  as  they  remember 
their  dolls  and  hobby-horses.  They  will  have  larger 
things  to  think  of,  larger  questions  to  ponder,  larger 
work  to  do ;  and  the  truths  which  touch  upon  the 
vast  responsibilities  of  life  and  the  stupendous  issues 
of  the  hereafter  will  loom  up  like  mountains  against 
the  blue  sky. 

Again,  the  final  system  of  doctrine  will  undoubtedly 
he  Christo-centric. 

So  much  may  be  discerned  in  the  clearing  atmos- 
phere of  these  troublous  days.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  Era  the  great  question  has  been. 
What  think  ye  of  Christ?   And  there  is  no  consensus 


264         CHRIST    AND    PROGRESS 

of  opinion  as  yet :  the  race  is  taking  its  time.  Men 
talk  about  Jesus  as  they  journey,  part  company  at 
the  Cross  and  meet  no  more.  And  still  there  is  no 
sunburst.  The  magi  came  to  Jerusalem  asking, 
"  Where  is  He  that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews?  "  The 
answer  came  thirty  years  later  when  Pilate  wrote 
the  superscription,  "  This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the 
Jews." 

The  world's  debate  is  centering  more  and  more  in 
Christ  and  His  redemptive  work.  It  was  in  the  year 
312  that  Constantine  said  he  saw,  in  the  morning  sky, 
the  outline  of  a  cross  and  above  it  the  legend,  "  In 
this  sign  conquer."  The  weary  centuries  have 
passed ;  and  though  an  ever-increasing  army  has 
been  marching  to  ever-greater  triumphs,  the  conflict 
still  rages ;  and  who  shall  foretell  how  many  cen- 
turies must  yet  elapse  before  the  nations  join  to 
sing: 

,  Behold  the  King  of  Glory  pass; 
The  cross  hath  won  the  field! 

But  the  end  is  to  be  seen  from  the  beginning. 
Christ  shall  not  merely  establish  His  throne  on  earth ; 
but,  dissipating  all  doubt  and  questioning  as  to  His 
Messianic  and  mediatorial  claims,  He  is  destined  to 
rule  absolutely  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  all  the 
children  of  men. 

It  may  be  confidently  aflfirmed  also,  that  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  in  the  Golden  Age  will  be  Biblical. 

Though  the  heavens  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll 
and  the  earth  consumed  with  fervent  heat,  the  word 
of  the  Lord  endureth  forever.  The  question  as  to 
the  ultimate  authority  in  spiritual  things  is  still  in 


FORECAST    OF   THE    GOLDEN   AGE  265 

open  controversy.  The  great  body  of  believers  as- 
sert the  absolute  trustworthiness  of  the  Scriptures 
as  the  Word  of  God ;  but  there  are  many  who  insist 
that  the  inner  consciousness  of  the  individual  is  the 
Court  of  Last  Appeal.  They  place  themselves  on  a 
level  with  the  people  of  the  time  of  the  Judges,  of 
whom  it  is  written  ''Every  man  did  that  which  was 
right  in  his  own  eyes."  It  cannot  be  supposed  that 
such  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  seat  of  ultimate 
authority  will  go  on  indefinitely.  It  must  be  settled 
before  the  break  of  the  millennial  day. 

We  are  living  in  the  midst  of  the  debate ;  clouds 
of  powder-smoke  are  hanging  over  us.  Esdraelon 
rings  with  the  tumultuous  clash  of  steel.  But  to  true 
believers  there  can  be  no  misgiving  as  to  the  out- 
come ;  since  Christ  is  to  reign  universally  and  the 
Scriptures  are  the  only  trustworthy  source  of  in- 
formation concerning  him. 

As  the  years  pass  it  is  certain  that  men  will  de- 
velop a  more  and  more  eager  desire  for  truth ;  and 
in  that  noble  quest  there  will  be  an  ever-increasing 
sense  of  the  need  of  some  ultimate  standard.  Can  it 
be  found  in  the  clashing  deliverances  of  the  church? 
Will  the  inner  consciousness  of  a  man,  differing  from 
all  his  fellows,  furnish  it?  Nay,  there  is  nowhere  to 
look  but  to  the  oracles.  The  Word  is  now  in  ques- 
tion ;  its  authenticity  and  reliability  are  being  bandied 
to  and  fro  in  the  thick  of  conflict ;  but  it  will  abide, 
when  the  corrosive  vapours  lift,  and  from  the  high 
summit  of  divine  authority  will  issue,  as  from  Sinai, 
the  determining  voice,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord !  " 

And  finally,  the  truths  of  the  Millennial  Age  will  h^ 
dynamic  truths. 


266  CHRIST   AND   PROGRESS 

The  play  of  controversy  will  give  way  to  the  en- 
deavour of  earnest  life.  The  facts  in  evidence  will 
be  such  as  to  enable  a  man  to  make  the  most  of  him- 
self and  do  the  utmost  for  his  fellow  men.  One 
word,  issuing  from  heaven,  will  roll  around  the 
world;  the  word  which  the  militant  Church  has  been 
so  slow  to  hear,  the  word  of  the  great  commission, 
*'Go!"  For,  however  the  great  propaganda  may 
have  ceased,  the  Church  of  the  latter  days  will  not 
rest  in  listless  inactivity.  There  will  be  new  worlds 
to  conquer;  and  truth  will  give  wings  to  the  feet  of 
holy  purpose,  so  that  each  of  the  Lord's  servants 
shall  run  in  the  way  of  His  commandments  and  re- 
joice to  do  His  holy  will. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  our  forecast  is  mere  guess- 
work. He  who  believes  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
"  moving  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  "  in  this  forma- 
tive period  is  bound  to  conclude  that  He  will  ac- 
complish His  purpose  in  the  establishment  of  truth. 
And  this  is  the  ground  of  our  confidence. 

O,  blest  is  he  to  whom  is  given 
The  instinct  that  can  tell, 
That  God  is  on  the  field  when  He 
Is  most  invisible! 

Let  us  be  of  good  courage,  therefore,  and  borrow 
no  trouble  for  the  future.  Buy  thou  the  field  of 
Anathoth,  for  Israel  shall  yet  occupy  it.  Everything 
is  going  right.  God  rules  amid  the  controversies  of 
history,  as  He  ruled  in  the  primeval  ages.  The 
eternal  years  are  His.  He  makes  no  haste.  His 
pathway  is  along  the  cycles  of  Eternity.  And  by  the 
same  token  "  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste." 


FORECAST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  AGE  267 

Cosmos  was  not  evolved  out  of  chaos  in  a  day. 
**  The  v^aters  stood  above  the  mountains ;  at  thy 
rebuke  they  fled,  at  the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they 
hasted  aw^ay !  "  So  shall  be  the  final  outcome  of 
these  jarring  and  disputatious  times. 

And  meanwhile  it  behooves  us  to  abide  in  faith. 
God  will  take  care  of  His  own.  The  Ark  of  the 
Covenant,  drawn  on  a  rude  cart  by  oxen,  shook  and 
trembled ;  and  when  Uzzah,  frightened  for  its  safety, 
put  forth  his  hand  to  steady  it,  lo,  death  smote  him. 
God  is  equal  to  all  emergencies.  The  future  is  se- 
cure. With  eyes  uplifted  and  hearts  sustained  by  a 
serene  confidence,  let  us  keep  step  v^ith  the  march 
of  events. 

''  Be  abreast  of  the  times  "  they  say.  Nay,  let  us 
be  abreast  of  the  better  times  which  are  further  on. 
The  man  of  God  lives  in  the  present  but  his  heart 
throbs  to  the  reveille  of  the  future.  As  progressive 
thinkers,  and  as  calm  believers  in  manifest  destiny, 
let  us  lend  a  hand  to  the  high  purposes  of  our  Lord. 
The  days  of  debate  and  confusion  will  presently- 
come  to  an  end ;  and  out  of  the  strife  of  opinion,  as 
from  chaos  of  old,  the  mountains  will  arise,  and 
above  them  all  these  three,  Sinai,  Olivet  and  Cal- 
vary ;  and  the  nations  will  rest  in  their  shadow  and 
rejoice  in  God, 


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